2015 NWSL expansion draft
The 2015 NWSL Expansion Draft was a special draft held on November 2, 2015, by the National [Women's Soccer League] to allow expansion side Orlando Pride to select players from existing teams in the league. The Pride were allowed to select up to ten players total from the existing nine NWSL teams from a list of unprotected players previously provided by the clubs.
Format
- 2015 [National Women's Soccer League season#League standings|2015 playoff teams] were allowed to protect up to 9 players, and 2015 non-playoff teams up to 10.
- Clubs with more than two U.S. allocated players could protect up to two of them; the remaining allocated players would be left unprotected.
- The Pride were allowed to pick up to two players from any existing team, or just one if they selected a US allocated player.
- The Pride were allowed to pick no more than two US allocated players total.
- When an existing club loses a player, they may protect one of their remaining unprotected players.
- Eligible players included those left unprotected by their club encompassing:
- *Any current NWSL players including U.S., Mexican and Canadian allocated players
- *Any unsigned player who was previously claimed via waivers
- *Any player that has been loaned to a club outside the NWSL
- *Any player whose rights are held by a specific team
- Players on a team's Discovery List were not eligible to be selected by the Pride.
Expansion draft results
| Player | Previous team | Next protected | |
| 1 | Meghan Klingenberg | Seattle Reign FC | Team protected |
| 2 | Ashlyn Harris | Washington Spirit | Team protected |
| 3 | Taryn Hemmings | Chicago Red Stars | Michele Dalton |
| 4 | Jasmyne Spencer | Western [New York Flash] | Elizabeth Eddy |
| 5 | Jamia Fields | Western New York Flash | Team protected |
| 6 | Cami Levin | Sky Blue FC | Maya Hayes |
| 7 | Lianne Sanderson | Portland Thorns FC | Mana Shim |
| 8 | Toni Pressley | Houston Dash | Tiffany McCarty |
| 9 | Maddy Evans | Boston Breakers | Stephanie Verdoia |
| 10 | Aubrey Bledsoe | Sky Blue FC | End of draft |
On October 26, 2015, the expansion Orlando Pride announced that it had traded the first pick in the 2015 NWSL Expansion Draft, as well as the first-overall pick in the 2016 NWSL College Draft and an international roster spot for the 2016 and 2017 NWSL seasons, to the Portland Thorns FC in exchange for United States forward Alex Morgan and Canadian midfielder Kaylyn Kyle.
Team-by-team breakdown
- Bold indicates a player was selected in the expansion draft
- Blue highlights indicate US allocated players
- ^Indicates a player that was protected after a teammate had been drafted
Boston Breakers