TRANSFER WINDOW: Which 3 CanPL stars are most ready to take next step up?
The MLS transfer window has sprung open – even for Canadian teams!
That leaves Canadian Premier League sides with the difficult prospect of moving on from their best talent smack in the middle of the season.; but who are the best candidates to get those moves this transfer window?
Here are three worth watching:
Daniel Nimick (HFX Wanderers FC)
The Halifax Wanderers haven’t been in the habit of putting anyone in a flattering light this season, but it’s not like they’re getting shelled at the back. Bad finishing and mediocre goalkeeping have left them where they are, but they’re right in the middle of the pack in expected goals allowed. With a backline that’s rotated through a slew of different personnel and formations, Nimick has been the glue holding it all together.
I’ll concede there are times where he hasn’t seemed that unshakable stalwart we grew to love in his rookie season. HFX have a tendency to be oddly uncommunicative in their own third, leading to that properly facepalm-y moment last match when he and Fillion collided on the Voytsekhovskyy goal.
GOAL👑@yorkutdfc are up 1-0 early vs. Halifax thanks to this header from Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy on a perfect corner from Mo Babouli
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) July 6, 2024
🔴Watch #CanPL LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/KhrPTQ0i2L
It’s not the only moment like that, and I only put it there in advance of someone else putting it there for a gotcha. The big picture still features one of the best players in the league.
(Source: Wanderers Notebook via CPL By the Numbers)
That chart is from last season, but his player ratings are actually higher than they were in 2023. When you see a centre-back outperforming his team at non-centre-back things, it's a pretty sure sign that it’s time for a move up, in that way a midfielder will catch eyes for leading his team in goals. Nimick has a way of sidestepping the opposing press reminiscent of the play that got Joel Waterman noticed in 2019. He can break lines with his deft passing play, or he can casually shimmy around contesting strikers so he doesn’t have to.
There’s an astuteness in his defending that probably deflates the sheer quantity of his ‘duel’ totals, but again, against the narrative, every single one of them have increased from last season. Of special note are his aerial numbers which were perhaps the least notable thing in his trapezoidal chart last season. His successful aerial duels per 90 have doubled in quantity, and too, he’s winning them quite a little more often than in 2023.
Frankly, given his pedigree, I thought he showed more than enough to get a move up in the winter. If he were a one-dimensional player, I could understand having qualms. But Nimick is too good at too many things not to be part of this conversation.
Tristan Borges (Forge FC)
It’s tempting to give the obligatory Forge slot to the new and improved Kwasi Poku, but I’m giving the nod to a resurgent Tristan Borges instead. The first Canadian to really use the CPL as a stepping stone to a higher level after an MVP inaugural season ultimately didn’t stay at aforementioned higher level for long.
It’s taken him some time to look his proper self again, but boy does he ever look proper. He’s settled sweetly into his spot in the attacking midfield, nestled between two technical partners in David Choiniere and Beni Badibanga. I’m not one to attribute every discrepancy to confidence but the single biggest difference between 2024 and 2023 Borges is his level of involvement. He’s touching the ball nearly twice as often as he did before and he’s weaving into more dangerous places.
Contrast this year’s heat map with last season’s:
(Source: Sofascore)
That’s the profile of a guy trying to do a little too much of everything, doing nothing particularly well. The heat, what little of it there is, yellows up approaching the 18-yard box. The 40 yard jog to the other side of the penalty box, all in service of a smattering of spaghetti yellow, almost hurts to look at.
Then there’s the profile of a guy with a plan when he gets the ball. This year, Borges is pretty much committed to the right hand side, where he’s overloading the flank with Choiniere. He’s also redeveloped that wonderful habit of dragging the ball across the front of goal so that a screamer or a sneaky touch pass might always be a threat.
What a beauty from Tristan Borges 😍
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) June 2, 2024
That wonderful goal picks up the @VWcanada Moment of the Match 💫#CanPL pic.twitter.com/fXveqNhkxu
An apt comparison might be Tyler Pasher - another diminutive, technical forward who couldn’t cut it at a higher level, who dropped back down to prove himself in USL. Pasher proceeded to torch that league until he forced a move back up, where he notched two solid MLS seasons in his late 20’s. The challenge for Borges, should a move materialize, will be adapting his game to get the best out of himself in bursts. Pasher looked good for a period of time, but he was never gonna be the guy on an MLS side.
Borges would be moving up at roughly the same age. Can he succeed if he’s not his team’s creative outlet?
Emil Gazdov (Pacific FC)
He’s been the best goalkeeper in the league... and it isn’t close.
(Source: FootyStats)
You can write a pretty compelling story about what a great centre-back pairing TMG and Quintana make, but Pacific aren’t really the boring, low-event team they pretend to be. They concede more big chances than HFX or Valour - the difference is that Emil Gazdov is casually stopping the equivalent of a goal every other game (even more when you account for Zadravec’s starts).
That number isn’t sustainable - not for anyone. Gazdov has come off his line a lot this year, and seemingly every time he makes a gamble, he’s gotten it right. He’s missed time with an illness and with an ankle injury, but frankly, it’s a downright tragedy that a team with that level of goalkeeping is treading water at 5th in the league.
The CPL hasn’t technically produced a goalkeeper yet - not beyond loanees in Pantemis and Sirois. But I think Gazdov has a lot going his way. For one, at 6’5, he’s not undersized in that way Canadian keepers have a habit of being. For two, he has that coveted European pedigree, having spent that autumn on loan in the Nurmberg system. Third, he’s not that pure shot stopper that gets you flack as a young goalie - he’s grown from pretty tall to really tall, and with that, he’s more willing to claim skied balls.
Maybe most importantly, he performed well in the CanChamp spotlight with a lot of eyes on him.
🔱 Save!
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) July 11, 2024
A flying stop from Emil Gazdov to keep it level!
It's 0-0 between @PacificFCCPL and #VWFC in the 50th minute. Watch the 2024 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗨𝗦 #CanChamp semi-finals on OneSoccer 🔴 pic.twitter.com/7j3nQ9LTOP
Maybe Gazdov is the Canadian equivalent to those USL late bloomers who find themselves disproportionately moving up at later stages. Or maybe Pacific’s ongoing German connection can land him in Europe - particularly if he can get his hands on a Bulgarian passport.
