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The Major Arena Soccer League teams could see some roster changes next week when the expansion draft to build out the new Lehigh Valley club takes place.
“With Lehigh Valley joining the MASL this season, the league and its ownership groups felt it was important to provide a structured mechanism to help build their inaugural roster through an expansion draft,” said Commissioner Keith Tozer. “This process not only supports Lehigh Valley in becoming immediately competitive by adding experienced arena soccer players, but also establishes a proven framework for future expansion clubs in the years ahead.”
Lehigh Valley will be able to select one unprotected player from each of the existing eight franchises, so it will have a core of at least 8 established MASL players.
Each team is allowed to protect 10 field players and one goalkeeper. Every player not on the list of 11 is allowed to be selected in the draft. Players who have a no-movement clause in their contract must be protected and will count towards the 11-player list.
DRAFT STRUCTURE:
There will be eight rounds to the 2026 MASL Expansion Draft, with Lehigh Valley selecting up to one player from each MASL club. The maximum number of players a team can lose in the draft is one.
The Empire Strykers’ protected player list is:
- Brian Orozco – Goalkeeper
- Walter Diaz
- Justin Stinson
- Mounir Alami
- Leopoldo Hernandez
- Dayerson Graterol
- Filipe Dutra
- Steven Chavez
- Ali Somow
- Zakhar Shkidchenko
- Barbaro Shelier Oviedo
None of those players can be lost, so any Strykers Fan Gear that has those names should be safely worn into the 2027-2028 season at least through this expansion draft, and there are plenty of players that will be on the team to give people reasons to buy Empire Strykers Tickets or Empire Strykers Season tickets.
The 2026 MASL Expansion Draft will take place on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.
