The San Diego Wave’s offseason churn continues, and the latest player to leave may be the most surprising one of them all.

San Diego is trading 20-year-old midfielder Jaedyn Shaw to the North Carolina Courage for allocation funds, a source confirmed Saturday. An announcement is expected in the coming days.

Shaw has been one of the Wave’s most popular players — and most public faces — since summer 2022, when she made her professional debut as a teenager. Shaw started 30 matches over the last two National Women’s Soccer League seasons, scoring eight goals and logging four assists. She made the United States Olympic team, but suffered a quadriceps injury during the run-up to the last summer’s games and did not play.

A native of Frisco, Texas, Shaw signed with the Wave at age 17 after forgoing her college eligibility to turn pro. She appeared in seven matches that summer, scoring three goals, and was in the starting lineup for the club’s first two playoff games.

Shaw signed a three-year contract extension in August 2023 designed to keep her in navy and pink through 2026.

However, by the start of the 2024 season, a source said, Shaw was talking to Wave management about playing elsewhere. By dealing her to North Carolina, San Diego is honoring a trade request that’s nearly a year old, a source said.

Shaw’s departure means the Wave will be without another franchise-caliber player as the 2025 season starts. Gone is American goal-scoring legend Alex Morgan, who retired late last summer after announcing she was pregnant with her second child. The club also traded longtime players Abby Dahlkemper, Taylor Flint and Christen Westphal and released veterans Emily van Egmond and Sofia Jakobsson.

None are as surprising as the deal involving Shaw, who was named MVP of the Concacaf W Gold Cup last spring at Snapdragon Stadium and is viewed as one of the most talented and marketable young players in the sport. She started 12 matches for the Wave last season, notching three goals and an assist as the club missed the playoffs for the first time. Shaw scored a third-minute goal in the team’s season finale, a 3-1 win over Racing Louisville in Kentucky.

There has been turnover at nearly every level of the organization over the past year. The 2025 Wave will feature a new coach (Jonas Eidevall) and ownership group (the Levine Leichtman family) as well as a general manager, Camille Ashton, who’s in her first full season after being hired from the Kansas City Current midway through the 2024 season. Gone is club president Jill Ellis, who took a job with FIFA earlier this offseason.

Forwards María Sánchez and Melanie Barcenas and defender Naomi Girma remain, and should make up the core of the 2025 team. Last summer’s acquisition of forward Dephine Cascarino and defender Perle Morroni from France could prove big for the Wave as they aim to return to the playoffs.

Trade requests in the National Women’s Soccer League are relatively common. In the last year alone, the Wave dealt Flint to Racing Louisville and Dahlkemper to Bay FC after both players requested trades.

Originally Published: January 11, 2025 at 4:02 PM PST