Maple Leafs top prospect Ben Danford fighting for big camp to make preseason debut

Top Toronto Maple Leafs defensive prospect Ben Danford is back at rookie camp this year as he gears up for his final season in juniors with the Oshawa Generals.

After his camp was cut short last year due to injury, he’s aiming this yea to show what he can do with the goal of appearing in the preseason with the Leafs for the first time.

“Obviously last year, I didn’t get the whole experience getting injured pretty early,” he said, speaking to media on Thursday. “This year I’m coming in with a open mindset. Just put my best foot forward, and have a really good showing this weekend in those games. Build that confidence and stuff into training camp, and hopefully get into some preseason games, and I’ll just see what happens.”

Danford is in a different place this year compared to the last September. Where last year he came in fresh off his first-round selection in the 2024 NHL draft, this year he shares that he feels more comfortable in the now familiar environment.

“Coming into this, you know everyone coming in, you know all the staff,” the 19-year-old said. “You feel more comfortable, more confident. I’ve already been to development camps in the summer. Training here in the summer with all the older guys, the guys in the NHL. They’re great to me, I look up to them.”

The Belleville, Ontario native shares that altogether he spent about a month training in Toronto over the summer, including with some of the Leafs’ top blue liners.

“It was great,” Danford said. “I skated with Tanev and Rielly, to get on the ice with those guys and watch how they work in the offseason, especially in the gym. I’ve been looking up to them for years now being a Leafs fan.”

He added some of the ways he’s been inspired by their game.

“I think it’s the little things,” he said. “We’ll be doing really simple drills, retrievals in the D-zone and stuff like that, and it’s just the little things they do. They’re always acting like it’s in-game, always have their head up, they’re scanning, even if there’s no forecheckers, they’re acting like there is. Everything they do, they play as if they’re in-game, and that’s how you get better.”

Heading back to Oshawa to play with the Generals for one final season, Danford is gearing up to put a show. Last year he scored career-high five goals in the OHL, and he wants to keep improving in that department this year.

“This year is a big year for me, it’s my last year of junior,” he said. “I just wanna go back and work on every aspect of the game. This year I want to get some more offensive touches, get better with the puck and everything.”

Feeling healthy and feeling confident, it’s an exciting month ahead for Danford before he heads back to Oshawa.