Ben Danford addresses the media after being drafted by his favourite team
Photo credit: David Alter, The Hockey News
While they traded down in the first round, the Maple Leafs came out of Friday night's festivities with a life-long fan who is ready to embrace his childhood dreams.
Entering last night's draft with the 23rd overall pick, Brad Treliving and the Toronto Maple Leafs decided to trade down 8 spots with the Anaheim Ducks who had the 31st overall pick. The Leafs also received a 2nd round pick (58th overall) as they looked to add to their barren draft cupboard.
With the 31st overall pick, they drafted defenseman Ben Danford from the Oshawa Generals of the OHL. The pick came out of left field, as the 18-year-old was seen as more of a second round talent by most draft boards. However, once you get past the 8-10 range in the first round of most drafts, it's anyone's guess how these prospects will turn. Let's not forget that Easton Cowan was also seen as a bit of reach last year and look how that turned out.
Nevertheless, Danford improved to the tune of 33 points in 64 games after scoring 4 goals and 21 points in 63 games the year before. While he wasn't able to score more than 1 goal throughout the entire 2023-24 season, some draft-makers were extremely surprised by the fact, like Steven Ellis from Daily Faceoff:
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"For a defenseman with Danford's offensive abilities, it's crazy he had just one goal during the regular season with Oshawa. But he's a guy his teammates like to rely on because he's rarely caught making a mistake distributing the puck."
He won't light up the scoresheet like a Cale Makar or an Adam Fox but Danford is an extremely responsible defender, plays a full 200-foot game, has great hockey senses and abilities, and will do whatever it takes to help his team win games. When asked to describe his game, he didn't leave anything to the imagination:
"200-foot guy, a strong skater, a good hockey IQ, I compete hard, it's the main thing that headlines my strengths. I compete, I block shots, I do anything for the team to win. I feel offensively, I have more steps to unlock there, I feel that's something I need to work on but with my hockey ability, skating, and hockey sense, it's there definitely."
Being drafted is always a special feeling for any youngster but this one might've meant a little bit more for Danford who grew up as a life-long fan of the Maple Leafs:
"I've been a life long Leafs fan so it makes it that much more special to get drafted by them."
"It's super special, I watched so many Leafs games growing up and playoffs, it just makes it that much more special to get drafted by your favourite team as a little kid, so it was awesome.
When asked about who his favourite player was when he was growing up, Danford was very quick to acknowledge Phil Kessel and Morgan Rielly.
"When I was super young I liked Phil Kessel, I was a big Phil Kessel fan and Morgan Rielly... he is a great player to watch... Two-way guy, someone who competes, works hard, and can play in a lot of different situations."
When asked about his first jersey and whose name was on the back, it should come as no surprise. that it was Kessel:
"I think I got my first Leafs when I was like 4... I think my first one with a name was Kessel, I was a big Kessel guy... he scored a lot of goals, as a little kid you like someone who scores a lot of goals."
Danford stands in at 6'1 and weighs about 194 pounds, is a right-handed shooting defenseman, and will provide the Maple Leafs with stabilization at a position of need, whenever he makes the jump to the big leagues. His game isn't flashy, it might not show up on the scoresheet every night, but he does all the little things right and there's a reason his teammates - and the Maple Leafs - are enamoured with him.
Chris Peters of Flo Hockey:
"He's an intelligent defender who has good skating ability to challenge forwards. He's a 6-foot defenseman, so his lack of offense is something that likely limits his potential, but his willingness and competitiveness on defense is a notable trait and he moves pucks competently enough to ease some concerns about his puck play."
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