Whitecaps give new deals to Thorrington, Cannon; trade Nolly to Chicago By Steven Sandor Posted on December 5, 2011 Comments Off on Whitecaps give new deals to Thorrington, Cannon; trade Nolly to Chicago 0 781 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Joe Cannon PHOTO: CANADA SOCCER Two current Vancouver Whitecaps and one new ex-Whitecap avoided Monday’s MLS Re-Entry Draft. Early Monday morning, the Whitecaps announced that the club had re-signed goalkeeper Joe Cannon and defender John Thorrington, while it had traded opening-day keeper Jay Nolly to the Chicago Fire in exchange for a first-round pick in the, ahem, MLS Supplemental Draft. That is, a pick which has a minute chance of actually cracking the Whitecaps’ lineup — as anything after round two of the MLS SuperDraft proper is a crapshoot. Last week, the Whitecaps declined the options on all three players’ contracts and made them available for the Re-Entry Draft. According to MLS rules, all of the 69 players made available for the Draft could negotiate with their existing teams until Friday. So, the deals for Thorrington and Cannon had to have been consummated by the end of last week — judging by the fact that the release went out before the sun was up Monday on the West Coast. It’s likely that both players will come in at a better cap hit than for what their option years would have called. Cannon made more than US$209,000 last season, while Thorrington made more than US$207,000. “Joe and John are experienced MLS players that bring leadership, both on and off the pitch,” said Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie in a release. “Both players enjoyed strong second halves of last season and we are excited to have them back for year two.” Cannon, at 36, is an MLS veteran who recorded three clean sheets in 20 starts last season after he replaced Nolly as the team’s No. 1. Nolly, who joined the Whitecaps in 2008 and played three Div.-2 seasons with the franchise, relished his chance to get back to MLS and prove that he was a Div.-1 keeper. But he struggled through the first half of the season. “I’m glad to be back (in MLS),” Nolly said before Vancouver’s home opener against Toronto. “That’s why I came to Vancouver, was building, get experience and become a better keeper.”’
