Minnesota United set to begin new era after offseason departures of Dayne St. Clair, Hassani Dotson

Hard as it might be to believe, Minnesota United is already more than halfway through its offseason, with players returning to Minnesota for the beginning of preseason in the second week of January.

So far this offseason, though, the biggest Loons headlines have been about goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair and midfielder Hassani Dotson — two players that won’t be in St. Paul come 2026.

It was one thing to lose Dotson, who’s been with the club since 2019 and is in the top five all-time for games played with the Loons. Dotson has been a pillar of the club, but the Loons have a number of young midfielders and there was some acrimony between the sides from contract negotiations earlier this year. All things considered, one could understand why Dotson chose to go to Seattle as a free agent instead of staying in Minnesota.

Losing St. Clair, though, was a more bitter pill to swallow. The Loons had been in negotiations with him this year, knowing that free agency loomed, and offered him what Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad described as a contract that would have made him one of the two or three highest-paid goalkeepers in MLS.

Instead, St. Clair chose to move on to the star-studded land of Lionel Messi, Inter Miami, even though the amount Miami could offer him was limited by the collective bargaining agreement. That means St. Clair, the reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, almost certainly took less money to leave.

“We did everything we could, and ultimately it’s Dayne’s decision, and we respect that,” El-Ahmad said.

St. Clair’s departure means a No. 1 goalkeeper has become the team’s top priority for 2026. The Loons have backup Alec Smir under contract as well as 24-year-old Wessel Speel, who is currently on loan to Shelbourne in the Irish top division.

“Our main hope was for Dayne to stay,” he said.

If the Loons choose to go for another MLS veteran, ex-New York Red Bulls keeper Carlos Coronel — who had the second-best underlying numbers in the league last season, behind St. Clair — is a free agent. Coronel, who is about to turn 29, could be a longer-term solution. Ex-Toronto goalkeeper Sean Johnson, who also had excellent numbers in 2025, is another option, but at age 36 he might be more of a short-term play.

The Loons are also looking to add to their attack, which seemed a player or two short after the departure of forward Tani Oluwaseyi in the summer transfer window. For one, they are still waiting on attacking midfielder Robin Lod to make a decision on their contract offer for next season.

“The ball is in his court,” El-Ahmad said. “Robin is someone we would like to keep.”

The Loons could get a boost if attacking midfielder Dominik Fitz improves in his second season with the club. Fitz, 26, was acquired in last summer’s transfer window from Austria Wien. He played in all six regular-season games after his arrival, starting once, but saw his playing time dwindle in the postseason. He got eight minutes total over four playoff games.

“The physical difference, not necessarily just in the games but actually the training intensity, took a little bit longer for him to adapt [to],” El-Ahmad said.

The Loons’ main offseason addition so far has been 23-year-old midfielder Peter Stroud, acquired from the Red Bulls. Stroud made 76 appearances over the past three years for the team, including starting in the 2024 MLS Cup final.

“What we really like is his competitiveness,” El-Ahmad said. “With Hassani moving on, we think Stroud [has] similar types of qualities that he can bring to the midfield — dynamic, hardworking, [an] ability to break lines without the ball. Someone reliable, with experience.”

The Loons also chose four players in the MLS SuperDraft on Thursday, with Southern Methodist winger Jaylinn Mitchell their top pick at No. 23 overall. Princeton forward Bardia Hormozi (No. 52), Cal State-Fullerton defender Aiden Bengard (No. 67) and Evansville goalkeeper Michal Mroz (No. 83) rounded out their draft. All four players could still choose to stay in college rather than sign with Minnesota.

Former Wayzata High School standout Joe Highfield, an All-American at Portland, was picked 11th overall by the Houston Dynamo. Highfield has played for Minneapolis City in USL League Two the past two summers.