Maple Leafs HC Craig Berube praises young defenseman

The Toronto Maple Leafs started their main camp on Sunday with a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Head coach Craig Berube took the opportunity to praise a 19-year-old player.

According to Berube, the young defenseman Ben Danford had an "impressive" performance against the Senators, which could be a good omen for his role with Toronto next season.

The coach made it clear that Danford's game was not spectacular either, but he was quite solid and did not make mistakes, something that is already reason to highlight, considering the player's youth and that it is an NHL-level game.

"Ben Danford played a good, solid hockey game," Berube said, via the team's official YouTube channel. "It is not a flashy game by any means. But it is just about the first pass, defending well, and playing a hard game. He was pretty much mistake-free. It was impressive."

Leafs' Ben Danford feels pro-ready, yet he might have to wait

In case he does not secure a spot on the Leafs' roster, by rule, Danford could not play in the AHL, so he would have to return to the OHL. Logically, this situation is frustrating for the young defenseman, as he himself stated to The Athletic that he feels ready to play at a professional level.

"If it ever did happen this year and if I put myself in a good spot this training camp and showed that I could play good minutes at the AHL level, that’d be something that would help me out," Danford said.

For now, we will be able to continue seeing Danford play with the Leafs, at least in the preseason, while waiting to find out if he can earn a spot on the main roster. Toronto's next game will be against Ottawa this Tuesday.