Maple Leafs' 1st Round Draft Pick Ben Danford Suffers Injury During Practice

Nobody ever wants to hear about a prospect being injured during practice, let alone a highly-touted prospect spending his first summer with the organization, but unfortunately Ben Danford has left practice with an apparent head injury.

The Leafs originally moved down from the 23rd pick of the draft, dealing their pick to the Anaheim Ducks and acquiring the 31st overall pick and an additional pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, which they ended up trading to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a 2025 2nd round pick.

Danford was originally expected to take part in this weekend's Prospect Showcase in Montreal, but after today's incident, his status is up in the air -- understandably so.

The hope is that the Leafs are merely being extra cautious with Danford and that the player is okay and can still participate in this weekend's showcase.

Leafs training camp is expected to begin next week, and Danford was expected to attend. We'll see how his injury impacts those plans.