City SC takes Finnish forward Jaaskelainen in first round; SLU's Floriani goes 2nd overall to San Jose

St. Louis City SC sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel held on to his first draft pick for once, and he liked how it worked out.

City SC chose Emil Jaaskelainen, a Finnish-English forward who played last season at Akron, with the seventh pick of the Major League Soccer draft on Friday. The top of the draft had a strong St. Louis feel, as St. Louis University defender Max Floriani was taken second, by San Jose, and Jansen Miller, a defender from Indiana who went to Parkway West High and played for the St. Louis FC academy, was taken with the eighth pick by Kansas City.

Pfannenstiel had traded down in the draft when he had the top pick and traded up in the draft when he didn’t have a first-round pick. This time, he stood pat on draft day.

“We knew roughly what was going to happen between one and six,” he said, “and we knew that there was always a fight between one or two players and Emil. So I would say this year we were feeling pretty good about that position No. 7, to wait and see if our prime targets are still available. That he was still available obviously worked out well for us.”

Jaaskelainen, one of three finalists for the Hermann Trophy as the top men’s collegiate soccer player, led the NCAA in goals with 23 and in points with 54, and also led the nation in game-winning goals (six), goals per game (1.1) and points per game (2.57). He played four seasons at Long Island University before transferring to Akron for his final year of eligibility. He scored 43 goals at LIU and had 14 assists.

“I have a very strong feeling that he is one of these players who can score in all leagues,” Pfannenstiel said. “He’s one of these players who showed in England as a youngster that he can score plenty of goals and for me. It was a great opportunity to pick a player where the most important trait, I think, in football, what you’re looking for, is always the guys who can score out of nowhere and score a lot, and I think that’s what we have. He’s a pure No. 9 (a striker), like Klauss is also a pure No. 9. Simon Becher is a No. 9, but also with a different style. So I think it’s a good variation of different players.

“I believe he has the qualities to score in any league regardless if it’s MLS or MLS Next Pro. That is something where I have a strong feeling about, that he has that. But MLS, MLS Next Pro, is not college soccer. He needs to get used to the speed, he needs to get used to the physical strengths. But he’s a big guy (6 feet 3 inches). He can fight, he can hold the ball well. He’s good in the air. He’s a good finisher. There’s a lot of positives,”

Jasskelainen is Finnish but was born and raised in England while his father, Jussi, played goalkeeper for the Bolton Wanderers, which means he will need an international roster spot if he makes the first team. He adds to a contingent of City SC players with Nordic roots: midfielder Rasmus Alm, defender Joakim Nilsson and coach Olof Mellberg from Sweden, defender Tomas Totland from Norway and forward Nokkvi Thorisson from Iceland.

“Finland was missing,” Pfannenstiel joked, “but he has an English passport, so I can’t just go with Finland.”

In the second round, City SC took Joey Zalinsky, a defender from Rutgers, and in the third round, Colin Welsh, a goalkeeper from Western Michigan.

Pfannenstiel said Zelinsky, who came up through the New York Red Bulls academy, was a top target who they had their eyes on for a while. He’s a right back, a position at which City SC doesn’t have anyone now in back of Totland while Jake Nerwinski remains a free agent.

Zelinsky was captain at Rutgers for two seasons and had two goals and two assists in his career.

“He’s aggressive, he’s very good one on one,” Pfannenstiel said. “He has a certain positive aggression in him, which stood out.”

Pfannenstiel said they were surprised Welsh was still available because he was the top goalkeeper on City SC’s draft board. Nick Bishop, the backup to Christian Olivares in goal for City2, will be playing at the University of Pittsburgh in the fall, so the team had the need for a keeper.

“For us, he was the best keeper in the draft,” Pfannenstiel said.

City SC’s roster stands at 29 players — the MLS limit is 30 — and Pfannenstiel said he does plan to fill that spot.

“We did, on purpose, say we do not want to have that much change and get all the injured guys back on track,” Pfannenstiel said, “which we did now with Celio (Pompeu) and (Tomas) Ostrak, who are recovering really well. Then it’s a new season where we believe we have a strong squad.”

Floriani is the highest-drafted Billiken since the league’s first one in 1996, when Brian McBride went first in the player draft and Matt McKeon went first in the college draft.

Floriani, a native of Gurnee, Illinois, played in 56 matches over three seasons with SLU. He was a first-team all-Atlantic 10 Conference selection in 2024, anchoring a backline that led the league in goals-against average and shutout percentage. He has played right back and center back for SLU, though center back is his usual position. He was selected just after San Diego made Manu Duah, a midfielder from the University of California-Santa Barbara, the top pick.

Jensen was a second-team all-Big Ten Conference selection who started all 20 matches for Indiana this season. He scored the overtime goal that eliminated Akron (and Jaaskelainen) from the NCAA Tournament.