Sporting KC Draft Kendall McIntosh from the NY Red Bulls

The next phase of the offseason is underway for Sporting Kansas City as they’ve added a backup goalkeeper for the fourth time in the last six years through the Re-Entry Draft. On Wednesday, the club drafted Kendall McIntosh, a four-year MLS veteran in Stage One of the Re-Entry Draft.

“I’m thrilled about the opportunity to join Sporting Kansas City,” McIntosh said. “It’s a club with a great history and I will get to work with one of the league’s best goalkeepers in Tim Melia. I can’t wait to get started with the team.”

McIntosh joins from the New York Red Bulls where he spent the 2020 season. For the three years prior to that he was with the Portland Timbers after coming up from the USL Championship the previous season with T2. Despite his five years of being a pro, he has zero appearances in MLS.

He did make one appearance with the Timbers in a US Open Cup game in the 2018 edition of the tournament. He boasted a 2-0 shutout victory over the San Jose Earthquakes. Most of his professional experience is in the USL where he has made 60 appearances for 5,400 minutes and posted 10 shut outs.

McIntosh has been a US Youth International with time spent with the United States U-20s back in 2012 as well as time with the U-14s, U-15s and U-17s. Before going pro, McIntosh was a part of the Quakes Academy before leaving for college at Santa Clara University. During college he spent time, in what is now called USL League Two, with clubs FC Tucson and the Burlingame Dragons.

McIntosh was one of three players selected in the Draft with Atlanta United drafting left back Andrew Gutman from FC Cincinnati and LAFC drafting Raheem Edwards from Minnesota United.

What Does it Mean for Sporting KC?

As stated above, Sporting have rotated through backup keepers by way of the Re-Entry Draft. They drafted three previous goalkeepers through this mechanism of the last few years: Alec Kann (2015), Andrew Dykstra (2016) and Richard Sanchez (2019). All three are, of course, no longer with the club. This is often seen as a cheap way to obtain a veteran keeper to keep the bench warm behind Tim Melia.

This will also free up time for Homegrown backup keeper John Pulskamp to go out on loan with USLC side Sporting KC II. Pulskamp took over the backup job in 2020 from Sanchez, but never got to make his first team debut.

The McIntosh signing is another low risk way to look at another keeper to see if they are the future when 34-year-old Tim Melia ultimately moves on. McIntosh made just $70,250.04 in 2019 (2020 wages aren’t known). It’s likely his wage is in that area still and it’s often true goalkeepers blossom at older ages, so it gives him a chance for a fresh start at a new club.

Current SKC Roster Status

This signing brings the total roster size up to 21 of a possible 30 players. It was previously reported that Sporting KC are looking to come to terms with Felipe Gutierrez, Roger Espinoza, Gerso Fernandes, Erik Hurtado and Winston Reid, but nothing new has come out at the time of this writing.

All five players are currently unsigned with Hurtado and Espinoza currently available as free agents to the entire league. Gutierrez and Reid were available but not selected in the Re-Entry Draft, though they could have chose to opt out. Gerso isn’t listed as available anywhere on the MLS lists, which is a bit curious.

The Blue Testament will bring further updates as they happen throughout the offseason.