Carl Robinson's side will look to improve on a disappointing 2016 after an offseason focused on filling in several roster gaps.
If 2016 will be remembered for anything by Vancouver Whitecaps fans, it will be how poorly the second half of the season unfolded. The club only managed three regular season wins over the final 17 matches of the season, and playoffs were out of sight long before Vancouver's surprising 4-1 season-ending victory over Portland secured the Cascadia Cup for the 'Caps.
The woeful downturn could be traced almost precisely to the devastating way the Whitecaps lost out on the 2016 Canadian Championship — Will Johnson's volley deep into stoppage time on June 29 ripped the Voyageurs Cup from the Whitecaps' hands — and while the team's exit from the domestic cup could be blamed for kicking off a sluggish final half of the MLS campaign, it was Vancouver's performances in other competitions that salvaged an otherwise forgettable year.