Look at the 40 Canadians who have played in MLS and NASL this year. Only six currently play on American teams.

Because Designated Players take up such a large chunk of a team’s salary-capped budget, conventional thinking is that an MLS club can either spread the wealth and have depth, or invest in star players but accept the consequences of having a thin roster. But, Toronto FC General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko is trying to prove that a team can have the best of both worlds

Ottawa Fury fullback/winger Eddie Edward has taken over the lead, after playing in two games over the course of the week.

For the first time in NASL play, the Eddies put out a starting XI that didn’t feature any Canadians. Now, there were mitigating circumstances. Due to international call-ups, both Shamit Shome (Canada U-20) and Nik Ledgerwood (who played in Canada’s 2-1 loss to Honduras on Friday) weren’t available for the 2-2 draw against the Ottawa Fury.

The Vancouver Whitecaps made club history Saturday night. Coach Carl Robinson named four Canadians to the starting lineup for the match in Carson, Calif. against the Los Angeles Galaxy. David Edgar, Marcel de Jong, Russell Teibert and Fraser Aird all were in the starting XI for the 0-0 draw.

If there is one Canadian player who has the “coach puts my name in the lineup in pen” distinction, it is Janouk Charbonneau of FC Montreal.

Cyle Larin scored for Orlando City Sunday and played the full 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw with the Chicago Fire. Larin continues to lead all Canadians in either MLS or NASL in terms of minutes played.

Toronto FC’s Tosaint Ricketts scored his first MLS goal Wednesday, a game-winner against Real Salt Lake. The Canadian forward, who recently signed with the Reds, is one of 40 Canadians who have got onto the field for an MLS or NASL team so far this season. Last year, in between the two leagues that count Canadians as domestics on Canadian sides …

The Ottawa Fury has not only won three NASL matches in a row, the club is spiking in terms of minutes on the pitch it is providing to its Canadian players.

In Saturday’s win in Jacksonville’s 40-plus C heat (with the humidity), the Ottawa Fury gave 464 of a possible 990 minutes playing time to Canadians. Canadian Carl Haworth scored the second goal of the game in a 2-0 win. And, with that, Ottawa not only leads all NASL and MLS teams in terms of giving minutes to Canadians, the Fury …