This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Sandy • A tweak to Major League Soccer's roster rules and regulations in 2016 should surface as a talking point as MLS clubs enter the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup tournament starting Tuesday night.

In January, U.S. Soccer announced that MLS-owned USL clubs would no longer be allowed to participate in the Open Cup. In 2015, five USL affiliates participated in the tournament, including Real Salt Lake's USL affiliate, Real Monarchs. While these affiliated clubs are no longer permitted in the Open Cup, the updated roster rules and regulations have enabled MLS franchises to sign players from their USL clubs on short-term agreements for Open Cup duty.

The short-term agreements are capped as four-day contracts and can be utilized in CONCACAF Champions League, the Canadian Championship, Open Cup and exhibition matches. A player may be signed to a maximum of four short-term agreements each season.

As RSL prepares for its fourth-round matchup against the USL's Wilmington Hammerheads, could the club choose to sign some Monarchs players for Tuesday's match and allow further rest for some first-teamers ahead of this jam-packed summer?

"We'll see," said RSL coach Jeff Cassar. "We have several [Monarchs] on the list, but at the same time, we have to give the guys that deserve it from our team [a chance]. I'm not taking this lightly. I want to win."

Cassar said it's likely some Monarchs players will continue to be mixed into training sessions over the next few days. RSL has had several first-team players already see extensive minutes with the Monarchs in 2016: Lalo Fernandez (11 games), Phanuel Kavita (eight games), Danny Acosta (seven games), Boyd Okwuonu (seven games), Omar Holness (six games), Devon Sandoval (three games), Emery Welshman (three games) and Olmes Garcia (three games).

Should RSL choose to bring up some Monarchs players for the Wilmington match, possibilities could range from midfielder Ricardo Velazco (leads club with five goals) to winger Andrew Brody or even former RSL center back Chris Schuler, who has started five matches with the Monarchs since returning to the field in May.

» Schuler progressing

Speaking of Schuler, RSL general manager Craig Waibel recently spoke about the progress of the 28-year-old center back. Schuler started in back-to-back matches at Vancouver Whitecaps 2 last week, helping the Monarchs snag a road draw and later a road win in British Columbia against one of the better teams in USL.

"He's still gaining his sharpness," Waibel said. "We didn't even plan to play him in the second game. We had every intention of resting him and he came in midweek and demanded he go. That's a good sign for us. We're trying to ween him back in to getting totally healthy, and now he's the one that's pushing the iron on it."

Schuler missed the Monarchs' 1-0 loss at Sacramento Republic FC Wednesday due to hamstring tightness. But Waibel reiterated that if the imposing center back continues on the path to full health and can perform well in consecutive starts, a possible move back to the first team could be in the cards this summer.

"I think that the other [center backs] on our roster have absolutely proven they're capable and it's made that transition for Chris a little more challenging at this point, but at the same time, I will never walk away from a good option — and a healthy Chris Schuler is certainly a very good option," Waibel said. "If not to start, to put a lot of pressure on our depth and the guys who are. I think if Chris is healthy and playing at a high level, he's an easy guy to bring into the fold. It'll make everyone better."

» Transfer window talk

RSL enters June at 7-4-2, at 23 points and in second place in both the Western Conference and league table. Both Cassar and Waibel said this week the team performed better than both expected in the first three months of the season. That strong start, however, won't deter Waibel from aiming to upgrade the roster for slog of summer and the stretch run that follows.

"I think we can get better," Waibel said. "I think we're capable of winning in the second half of the season, I think we're capable of getting through the summer with proper results, but again, I do think that, overall, we still need to — from top to bottom — look to be more effective with our roster selection."

-Chris Kamrani

Twitter: @chriskamrani