LAS VEGAS — Ben Danford isn’t afraid do some heavy lifting.
“My dad owns a construction company, and I can operate heavy machinery. Excavators, backhoes, stuff like that,” says the newest member of the Toronto Maple Leafs farm system.
“It’s fun. I’ve been doing it since I was 13.”
Danford, 18, is a big, young man from small town Ontario.
The 6-foot-1, 194-pound right-shot defenceman from Madoc, Ont. (population: 2,078), grew up a Maple Leafs fan.
And on a glitzy night in Las Vegas, his boyhood hockey team traded down and made his dream come true.
Danford’s Leafs fan dad, mom and two older sisters all celebrated inside the Sphere as the 18-year-old made his way to the stage and slipped on the sweater of a team he’d been repping since he was four years old.
“Feels great. I mean, I’ve been a lifelong Leafs fan, so it makes it more special I got drafted by them,” Danford smiled. “I was a big Kessel guy. He scored a lot of goals. As a little kid, you like guys who score a lot of goals.”
Toronto’s GM likes big guys who play defence and curve their stick right.
Considering the club’s anemic right side on the blueline, GM Brad Treliving and chief amateur scout Wes Clark targeted the Oshawa Generals defender, who ranked lower on most teams’ draft board.
“He’s a real intelligent player, real competitive guy. A right-shot defenceman. He’s a guy our staff was really focused in on, and that’s why we traded down. Took a chance,” Treliving told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the broadcast.
“High character kid. Moves really well. He’s just scratching the surface of what he can be.”
Clark’s draft philosophy is simple: “The more bullets, the better.”
So, it should not have arrived as a huge surprise that the Leafs — who have been routinely shedding picks for players by trade deadline — dealt their 23rd-overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft and doubled their ammo.
The rebuilding Anaheim Ducks jumped up to snatch Norwegian defenceman Stian Solberg (remember that name) and packaged the 31st and 58th picks to Toronto.
While some experts will have ranked Danford outside of the first round, Clark has had success in this depth, snatching Matthew Knies at 57th, Fraser Minten at 38th, and OHL MVP Easton Cowan last year at 28th.
“Everything he did this year was on Easton, and I think he exceed our expectations, no doubt,” Clark said. “I know you guys thought we reached for him last year.
“Stick to what we believe in and attack it.”
Danford vows to attack his path as a prospect.
Posting 32 assists and a plus-27 rating as an OHL sophomore in 2023-24, he describes himself as a two-way defenceman who excels in all situations. A strong skater with great hockey sense. He also recognizes that his offence can grow.
Danford scored just once in the regular season but four times in Oshawa’s 21-game playoff run, where he welcomed hard labour.
“I compete hard,” he said. “I block shots. I do anything for the team to win.”
On Day 2 of the draft Saturday, the Maple Leafs are slated to pick in Round 2 (58), Round 4 (120th overall), thrice in Round 5 (151, 152, 157), and twice in Round 7 (200, 216).
Seven more bullets in the chamber.
