Ben Danford will have one final stop before Toronto Maple Leafs training camp.
The 19-year-old, who’s currently participating in Oshawa Generals training camp, is one of 31 prospects invited to the Upper Deck/NHLPA rookie showcase in Washington, D.C. next week.
Among the other invites are 2025 first-overall pick Matthew Schaefer (New York Islanders), Ryan Leonard (Washington Capitals), Brayden Yager (Winnipeg Jets), Carter Yakemchuk (Ottawa Senators), and Tij Iginla, son of NHL Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla (Utah Mammoth).
Danford’s coming off a strong season with the Generals, where he captained the club to the OHL Championship series against Easton Cowan and the London Knights. Oshawa was only able to win one game in the series, with London taking home the OHL title and the Memorial Cup a few weeks later.
Danford scored five goals and 20 assists in 61 games with the Generals last season. Although his point total was lower than the year prior, the defenseman became stronger in several areas of his game, including his puck distribution.
“He just kills plays,” said Toronto 2025 third-round pick Tyler Hopkins, who’s battled against Danford several times in the OHL.
“Once you hit that blue line, he’s coming at you, and he’s coming at you fast. And he has a really good stick as well, which makes it a lot harder for a player trying to get by and not turn that puck over at the blue line.”
Danford missed the entirety of Toronto’s NHL training camp last year after suffering a concussion before the Prospect Showdown against the Montreal Canadiens in early September. He was on the receiving end of a hit from free agent invitee Marshall Finnie in rookie camp before heading to the two-day evetn
Once the 2024 first-rounder was cleared to play, he was loaned back to the Generals and stepped back into the lineup right away. Danford was named captain of Oshawa two days after he was returned to the OHL club.
The defenseman was invited to Team Canada’s World Junior Summer Showcase in July and hopes to play in his first World Juniors later this year. However, first, he’ll need to attend Maple Leafs training camp, where he knows the competition will be a step up from what he’s used to.
“Who knows when I’m going to make the jump to pro, but I think I need to get bigger and stronger and faster,” said Danford. “The way (NHL players) can move and stuff and how strong they are on pucks, that’s a really big eye-opener, so I feel like that’s something that I can really get better at.”
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