Maple Leafs prospect Ben Danford wins bronze with Canada at 2026 World Juniors

Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Ben Danford will be going home with a bronze medal in his first and only World Junior tournament.

After Canada suffered a crushing defeat in a back-and-forth semi-final thriller against Czechia, they came out with vengeance against Finland and beat them 6-3 to capture the third place title at the tournament. In doing so, they avoided going three years without a medal for the first time since 1979-1981 and will enter the 2027 World Juniors as a top-three team.

Montreal Canadiens prospect Michael Hage and top 2026 NHL Draft prospect Gavin McKenna finished the game with four points apiece and helped Canada pull away after the game was 3-2 for them following the first period. Los Angeles Kings prospect Carter George impressed in his return to the net after a couple of rough games early in the tournament, stopping 27 of 30 Finnish shots in the win.

Danford finished the tournament with one assist in seven games and delivered essentially the exact performance people were expecting from the Maple Leafs’ 2024 first round pick. He’s not an overly offensive defenceman and was always projected to be used in a defensive-heavy role, eating minutes on the penalty kill and defending leads in the final minutes of games, and that’s exactly what he did.

Danford, who turns 20 in February, will now return to the stacked Brantford Bulldogs of the OHL and continue his pursuit of a Memorial Cup. The former Oshawa Generals captain was traded there shortly after the start of the season and has 12 points in 15 games since joining the Bulldogs. He will look to pursue a job with the Toronto Marlies following the conclusion of this season, and with some strong play early on next season, could see his NHL debut not far down the line after he impressed in limited preseason action in 2025-26.