Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated reports that MLS is reducing the impact of the Expansion Draft; each new team will only take five, rather than 10, players in the next round of expansion. Because of this new rule, existing teams will also only lose a maximum of one player. The two clubs joining the league taking players in the 2017 Expansion Draft are Atlanta United and Minnesota United. The latter will be joining the Sounders in the MLS Western Conference.
During previous expansion rounds with two teams, an existing club could lose up to two players and could expand their protected list after losing their first.