The 2021 CPL–U Sports Draft was the third annual CPL–U Sports Draft. Eight Canadian Premier League (CPL) teams selected 16 eligible U Sports athletes in total when the draft was held on January 29, 2021.
Format Each CPL team made two selection in the U Sports Draft. Players could be selected if they had years of U Sports eligibility remaining and had declared for the draft. In 2021, a total of 48 athletes declared for the draft.
The draft used a snake format with the order reversing directions between the two rounds. The selection order in the first round is the reverse of the previous season's standings.
Player selection * Denotes player who has signed a professional contract for the 2021 season ^ Denotes player who has signed a developmental contract for the 2021 season
Round 1 Pick # CPL team Player Position Nationality University Last team/academy 1 FC Edmonton Thomas Gardner^ MF British Columbia TSS Rovers (USL2) 2 Atlético Ottawa Cristopher Malekos DF Carleton Ottawa South United (PLSQ) 3 Valour FC Yuba-Rayane Yesli GK Qualifies as a domestic player Montréal CS Fabrose (PLSQ) 4 York United Christopher Campoli MF Ontario Tech Woodbridge Strikers (L1O) 5 Pacific FC Chris Lee^ DF British Columbia Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy 6 Cavalry FC Victor Loturi^ MF Mount Royal Cavalry FC (CPL) 7 HFX Wanderers Stefan Karajovanovic* FW Carleton Ottawa South United (PLSQ) 8 Forge FC Garven-Michée Metusala* DF Concordia AS Blainville (PLSQ)
Round 2 Pick # CPL team Player Position Nationality University Last team/academy 9 Forge FC José da Cunha DF Cape Breton G.D. Estoril Praia B 10 HFX Wanderers Kareem Sow^ DF Montréal Montreal Impact Academy 11 Cavalry FC Ethan Keen DF Mount Royal Calgary Foothills (USL2) 12 Pacific FC Victory Shumbusho FW Qualifies as a domestic player British Columbia Victoria Highlanders (USL2) 13 York United Danial Rafisamii MF Ontario Tech Toronto Skillz FC (L1O) 14 Valour FC Tony Mikhael^ DF Qualifies as a domestic player Carleton Ottawa South United (L1O) 15 Atlético Ottawa Reggie Laryea DF York Sigma FC (L1O) 16 FC Edmonton Jackson Farmer DF British Columbia Calgary Foothills (USL2)
Retained The following players signed development contracts with their respective CPL teams in 2020 and had U Sports eligibility remaining. Their CPL clubs chose to retain their rights for another year, exempting them from the draft. Drafted CPL team Player Position Nationality University 2019 (7th) Forge FC Gabriel Balbinotti FW UQTR 2019 (14th) HFX Wanderers Jake Ruby RB Trinity Western
Selection statistics
Draftees by nationality RankCountrySelections11221111
Canadian draftees by province
RankProvinceSelections15Mikhail's hometown is in Ontario, but represents Lebanon internationally24Yesli was born in Algeria, but resides in Quebec since his youth333Shumbusho was born in Congo, but resides in British Columbia since his youth
Draftees by university RankUniversitySelections1British Columbia4 2Carleton3 3Montréal2Ontario TechMount Royal 6Concordia1Cape BretonYork
References