Craig Berube's Comments About Leafs Prospect Ben Danford Turning Heads in Toronto

Outside of a handful of NHLers, the Leafs dressed prospects and AHLers for Sunday's pre-season opener against an Ottawa Senators team that very closely resembled their full NHL crew.

Led by Calle Jarnkrok, David Kampf and Nicholas Robertson, the Leafs held on for a 4-3 win over the Senators. While the veterans did what they were supposed to do, head coach Craig Berube was rather impressed with the debut of Ben Danford.

The 19-year-old missed all of last year's training camp due to an injury, so this was Berube's first up close look at the Oshawa Generals captain in action.

Expected to suit up for a few more pre-season games before being returned to Oshawa for his final junior season, Danford demonstrated his simplistic, yet effective defensive game on Sunday.

Danford's dependability was highlighted by an early blocked shot and stick lift in the first period that prevented the Senators from taking a 1-0 lead before the Leafs went down the ice and scored.

Not necessarily offensively inclined, the 19-year-old has a very strong, physical, defense-first game that could see him joining the Maple Leafs sooner rather than later -- though that is not expected to occur this season, even with a standout performance on Sunday against a near-full NHL squad in Ottawa.