Top Maple Leafs prospect receives exciting news and the organization should be pleased

The Leafs learned this past week that they'd have at least one prospect representing them at the upcoming World Junior Championship tournament as 2024 fourth-round pick Victor Johansson was named to Sweden's World Junior roster. They may soon have another representative, this time for Canada.

Drafted three rounds earlier, with the 31st pick in the first round of the 2024 draft, the selection of Ben Danford was met with some skepticism at the time. Since, the 19-year-old was named Captain of the Oshawa Generals, and become a dominant shutdown defender.

Ahead of the OHL season, Danford had a very impressive training camp with the Maple Leafs, before being traded to the Brantford Bulldogs a few games into the season.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound defenseman has made a name for himself since being drafted, becoming known for his thunderous open-ice hits and reliability defensively.

On Monday, his defensive reliability netted him an invitation to Team Canada's selection camp which will take place from December 12th to 22nd.

Through 22 games between Brantford and Oshawa, the 19-year-old has 16 points, which is just a shade under half of his most productive season of 33 points in 64 games during the 2023-2024 season.

Should he make Team Canada, Danford is expected to take on more of a shutdown role, but being able to chip in offensively won't hurt his chances of making the roster as Canada looks to claim gold.

Congrats to Danford and all the best to him ahead of Canada's WJC selection camp.