VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC confirmed today that defender Christian Dean has graduated from the Generation adidas program, meaning his 2017 salary will count against the club’s salary budget.

The 23-year-old product of East Palo Alto, California and 2016 Whitecaps FC Humanitarian of the Year recipient was selected by Vancouver third overall in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft.

Dean will now be eligible for selection in the MLS Expansion Draft on December 13 unless he is one of the 11 protected played.

The 20 current MLS clubs will have the ability to protect 11 players from their rosters. These 11 protected players, in addition to Generation adidas players who did not graduate from the program at the end of this past regular season and Homegrown Players on a club’s Supplemental or Reserve roster, will not be eligible for selection in the Expansion Draft. All remaining MLS players will be available for selection by the two expansion clubs.

The following Whitecaps FC players are Homegrown players on the supplemental and reserve roster and are automatically protected in the MLS Expansion Draft: Sam Adekugbe, Marco Bustos, Marco Carducci, Alphonso Davies, Kianz Froese, Ben McKendry, and Russell Teibert.

Each MLS club may lose a maximum of one player in the Expansion Draft. Once a player is selected from a club’s unprotected roster, that club is removed from the Expansion Draft process and may not lose any further players.

The Expansion Draft will be held on Tuesday, December 13 at 11 a.m. PT and consist of five rounds, allowing Atlanta and Minnesota to select up to five players each from the list of eligible MLS players. Teams must submit their protected lists by December 12. Click here to see a complete set of rules for the 2016 MLS Expansion Draft.

Generation adidas is a joint program between MLS and adidas that is dedicated to developing exceptional domestic talent in a professional environment. Each year, a handful of top domestic collegiate underclassmen and youth national team players are signed by the league and placed in the SuperDraft through this program. Until a player graduates from the program, Generation adidas players are on a club’s Supplemental Roster and are not charged against the team’s salary budget.