East
1. Toronto FC: The kings in the east will not be slipping this year. Sebastian Giovinco is still an all star and Toronto is one of the deepest teams in the league.
2. Atlanta United: The Injury of Barco will inhibit this team a little bit early but there is just to much young speed and talent on this team for them to finish any less than third in the East.
3. Orlando City SC: I really do think this is the year Jason Kries puts all the pieces together and Orlando gets there first go in the MLS playoffs. It all depends on the health and form of Dom Dwyer though.
4. New York City FC: Can David Villa remain in top form? Will Jack Harrison be dearly missed? We will find out but they are definitely a lock to make the playoffs.
5. Columbus Crew SC: One of the more impressive midfields in the league, it will be interesting to see if it pans out for the Crew who have mounting pressure to win now before they may be forced to leave.
6. Philadelphia Union: A lot of people doubt this team but they were just two spots out of the playoffs and they added one of MLS best players in David Accam.
West
1. Sporting Kansas City: As an RSL fan this physically hurts me to type but the west is wide open. Like seriously, the Sounders have real issues figuring themselves out for the most of the season. The Timbers are under a new regime and without Darlington Nagbe and RSL is young and unproven. In the west I trust coaching, I trust possession, and I trust physicality. SKC has all of those.
2. Portland Timbers: New coach, same MVP caliber striker in Diego Valeri. Consistency pays off in this league and the Timbers can provide that.
3. LA Galaxy: I know this is a different regime than Brue Arenas but I have never seen the galaxy be that bad back to back years in my lifetime and I don’t expect to now.
4. Real Salt Lake: This team excites and scares me at the same time, on one hand we could be the most explosive young team in MLS soccer on the other hand we could be out of the playoff picture in the beginning of July again. Who knows, this is a team to watch.
5. San Jose Earthquakes: I don’t know why but I really love the quakes chances to make the playoffs this year.
6. Houston Dynamo: If this team can figure out how to play defense, they have a shot to win the supporters shield.
Predictions
Supporters Shield winner (best record in MLS): Toronto FC
US open cup (tourney in which all US domestic soccer teams play): New York Red Bulls
MLS Playoffs: seeded one through six as stated above a knock out round two aggregate rounds and then one final cup game.
Wild Card
3 LA 6 Houston- LA
4 RSL 5 San Jose-RSL
3 Orlando City 6 Philadelphia- Orlando
4 NYCFC 5 Columbus- Columbus
Second round
1 Sporting KC 4 RSL- RSL
2 Portland 3 LA- LA
1 Toronto 5 Columbus- Toronto
2 Atlanta 3 Orlando- Atlanta
Conference Finals
3 LA 4 RSL- LA
1 Toronto 2 Atlanta- Atlanta
MLS Cup
2 Atlanta 3 LA- LA