Leafs prospect Danford talks lottery win, meeting Chayka and path to the NHL

Maple Leafs prospect Ben Danford was enjoying one last night out with his Brantford Bulldogs teammates following their playoff elimination when Toronto won the NHL draft lottery.

“I was pretty stunned, to be honest,” the 20-year-old defenceman said. “Obviously, their odds weren’t that good to get first overall. We were having dinner and I looked at the TV and I thought they were just talking about when they got the first overall pick in 2016. And then I realized, ‘Oh my god! That’s right now.’ I was like, ‘Holy, that’s crazy.’ So, I mean, that’s great. You know, bringing another young guy in [that] I feel like I could click with. Whoever it is, I’m looking forward to meeting them.”

Danford, who was Toronto’s first-round pick (31st overall) in 2024, may already know him. Danford played with Penn State winger Gavin McKenna on Team Canada at the World Juniors. TSN director of scouting Craig Button has the Leafs taking McKenna in his latest mock draft.

“When it comes to skill, I don’t know how much more you can get,” Danford said. “Just the way he thinks the game, hands, you know, his skating, shot, he’s got everything going for him. And he’s a great guy off the ice as well. So, I mean, if he was to come to Toronto, I’d be pretty happy with that for sure.”

McKenna was under pressure to produce at the World Juniors and did just that with 14 points in seven games, which ranked second in the tournament. And Danford feels McKenna would handle the Toronto spotlight just fine. “I feel like Gav is a guy that kind of absorbs that and uses it maybe as motivation whether it’s positive or negative,” Danford said. “Obviously, he’s had a lot of hype throughout his whole career so I feel like he would handle it really well.”

Ultimately, the final call on what the Leafs do with the first overall pick will be made by new general manager John Chayka.

“I actually met John a couple of days ago,” Danford said. “He seems like a very down-to-earth person that wants to win. He seems like someone that’s very motivated and he knows what the task is ahead, that the Toronto Maple Leafs want to win soon. They want to go all the way. Looking forward to getting to work with him and learning from him.”

Chayka will be working closely with new senior executive advisor Mats Sundin, who was captain of the Leafs the last time the team advanced to the Eastern Conference Final back in 2002.

“My dad grew up watching him,” said Danford, who is from Madoc, Ont. “I always heard about him. I was always a Leafs fan and Mats Sundin was always a legend to me. And for him to be able to be part of this organization now and to be able to get to meet him and learn from him, I’m looking forward to it. It should be great.”

Danford spoke briefly with the Hall of Famer this week.

“Seemed like a great human being,” he said.

Danford is hoping to crack the Leafs roster this fall and be a contributor in the NHL in the first season of the Chayka-Sundin era.

“I’m never going to go into something and not go for the top,” the right-shot rearguard said. “My goal, at the end of the day, is to make the NHL next year. But, you know, whatever happens, happens. Everyone has a different road.”

All of Toronto’s defencemen from this season remain under contract next season, but Chayka has made changing the mix on the blue line a priority. And Danford is drawing inspiration from what good friend Easton Cowan accomplished with the Leafs this season as a 20-year-old rookie winger.

“Me and Cow still talk every day,” Danford said. “He’s a great guy to listen to and ask questions about. We always joke around about how it’d be pretty cool if me and him play in the NHL together at a young age. So, we’ll see what happens.”

Cowan posted 29 points in 66 games with the Leafs this season as he made the jump from the Ontario Hockey League directly to the NHL. He impressed teammates and coach Craig Berube late in the season by getting involved physically despite standing just 6-foot, 190 pounds. Most notably, Cowan confronted Nikita Zadorov after the burly Boston Bruins blueliner hammered John Tavares with a controversial hit on March 24.

“I texted him instantly,” Danford said with a big smile. “I was like, ‘Man, like, you’re a nail gun now!’ I give a lot of props to Cow. He’s not the biggest guy out there, but he’s got a lot of heart and he’d do anything for his teammates. Obviously, that showed there. I love him. He’s a great guy.”

Danford also plays a hard-nosed, high-character style. He served as captain of the Oshawa Generals before being traded this season to Brantford where he immediately became an alternate captain.

How close does Danford feel to being NHL ready?

“That’s going to come with a big summer,” he said. “I feel like with my ability to skate and my ability to break out pucks and have a good brain when it comes to defensive plays and everything like that, you know, I feel like I have that going for me. But the summer is going to be a huge part of my development and what the future holds. Obviously, you’re going up against men when you go pro, and the NHL is just another level. So I got to put on some weight this summer, got to put on muscle and get faster. So getting in the gym is going to be really big for me and having a good diet.”

Danford, who stands 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, shared his perspective on his season and the path forward during a conversation with TSN. The following is an edited transcript of some of that interview.

TSN: Now that it’s done, how do you feel about your final season in the OHL?

Ben Danford: I was happy with it. Earlier in the year, I said that my end goal in my last year in junior was to go all the way and win it [after losing in the OHL final the previous two seasons]. Unfortunately that didn’t happen and I got to learn from that. Losing is a learning experience for sure. You know winning isn’t easy. Overall, I was happy with my year. I thought I got better defensively, which is something I take a lot of pride in and I thought I got better at that. And when it comes to offence, maybe my numbers weren’t there [three goals, 20 points in 45 games] but at times I felt like I could get some more confidence there. It’s still kind of seeping through the cracks. I’m going to have a big summer going into pro next year and work on all aspects of my game.

TSN: Where did you improve defensively?

Ben Danford: When I look at defence, you know, it’s defending and shutting down the other teams’ top line. But when it comes to my style of play, I take a lot of pride in breaking out pucks and that first pass. I thought I was pretty consistent throughout the year at being able to absorb contact and being able to scan and make plays and clean exits and all of that. I was lucky enough that Brantford trusted me to go against top lines every night and I took a lot of pride in that. That helped me a lot as well, you know, developing that way.

TSN: You received a two-game suspension for a check from behind in Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs against the Sudbury Wolves. Did you learn something from that?

Ben Danford: I definitely took away a lesson from that. That second period against Sudbury, there were a couple [flashpoint] plays. One of our guys went down and there was no call, and we thought it was a dirty play. I feel like we had just a lot of anger. It was a very high-intensity game. We had a power play and we needed another D out there. I changed. We’re in the D zone and I was just coming in with a lot of speed. I’m flying back and all I’m thinking about is going through a guy, but obviously you never want to go through a guy’s numbers. You never want to hurt anyone. Looking back on it, it was just a very stupid play on my part and you just got to learn from it.

TSN: What did it feel like to score an overtime winner in the second round against North Bay?

Ben Danford: That felt unreal. It was funny, I told the guys, like, even in minor hockey, anything, I think that’s the first OT winner I’ve ever scored. So, yeah, that felt really good. I can’t say enough about Brantford, that team, we were such a tight group. We had so much fun. Just in general, like, it was just a blast over there. That series against North Bay, it was very up and down, and to get that OT winner felt really good.

TSN: What did you take away from the World Junior experience?

Ben Danford: Anytime you get to go and represent your country, it’s obviously a huge honour. It wasn’t the way we wanted it to end. We did get to go home with some hardware with getting bronze and that was obviously something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Yeah, overall, I wasn’t overly happy with, personally, my tournament, but I learned from it and I thought I had a good second half in the OHL.

TSN: You were dealing with a hip injury at that time. What was it like managing that?

Ben Danford: It was lingering and then it kind of came back full tilt on me right before the tournament started. So, yeah, I mean, that was tough to deal with. Hockey Canada did a great job of trying to help me so I could perform to the best of my abilities with that going on. And that’s just part of hockey. You got to play through injuries and things happen. So, I mean, it is what it is. I got through it, got over that hump and kind of moved on.

TSN: You guys led the Eastern Conference final 3-1 before the Barrie Colts stormed back to win in seven games. What happened?

Ben Danford: Their goalie [Ben Hrebik] had a really strong showing. Those last three games, he played really well for them. And, I mean, they just never gave up. They kept coming back and back. We got leads and they came back and you gotta respect that. It’s good on them. We weren’t playing bad. Maybe there’s some times, at times, where we thought maybe we could have got a couple of better balances, maybe some better calls and stuff but, I mean, that’s just hockey. That’s the way it goes. They’re a great team over there and it could’ve gone either way."

TSN: What’s it been like processing that result the last few days?

Ben Danford: It’s been a tough. We had a really strong team there in Brantford, a really tight group and for a lot of us it was our last kick at the can. A lot of guys are moving on after this year. We had such a great team. I’m pretty, like, speechless. We’re up 3-1 in the series and Barrie had a great team over there, and they just found ways to stay in games and end up winning and pushing it to Game 7, and then obviously you get there and it’s anyone’s game. I wish them the best luck in the finals. It was tough not to get back there and get the job done this year. But, I mean, I can’t thank Brantford enough.

TSN: We’re speaking right before the Toronto Marlies play a decisive Game 5 against the Laval Rocket in the American Hockey League playoffs on Saturday. What is the plan for you in the immediate future?

Ben Danford: I got into Toronto a couple of days ago. I went in for some testing just to see how my body’s doing after a playoff run. I’ve been skating the last couple of days and working out. Yeah, I mean, hopefully the boys pull through. We’ll see what happens. I’ll know more after today. But, if I ever get the chance to get in the lineup, I’ll be ready to go.

Note: The Marlies beat the Rocket to advance to the North Division final, which starts Thursday in Cleveland.

TSN: How is your body feeling?

Ben Danford: One thing that comes with getting older and maturing is getting stronger. Another thing is taking better care of your body, cooling down, things like that, and having routines, acting like a pro. So I took a lot of pride in that this year and, overall, my body throughout the playoffs felt pretty good. Obviously, there’s always stuff that lingers and stuff you got to play through but, as of right now, after getting four or five days of rest, my body feels pretty great.