August 2, 2024 at 9:03 am CDT | by
Josh Erickson
The Maple Leafs have signed 2024 first-round pick
Ben Danford to his entry-level contract,
according to a team press release. It’s a standard three-year ELC, and PuckPedia later
reported the full structure of the
deal, which carries a cap hit of $964K:
Year 1: $862K base salary, $95K signing bonus
Year 2: $864K base salary, $96K SB
Year 3: $877.5K base salary, $97.5K SB
Danford, 18, was the 31st overall pick in June’s draft, which the Leafs acquired in a draft-day swap with the Ducks. The 6’1″, 190-lb defenseman is coming off his second season in juniors with the Ontario Hockey League’s Oshawa Generals, where he served as an alternate captain. In 64 regular season OHL games, the agile stay-at-home defender scored just once but recorded 32 assists for 33 points, finishing third among Gens blue-liners in scoring. His +27 rating was one short of the team lead for defenders, trailing
Luca Marrelli, who was selected two rounds later by the Blue Jackets.
Danford had a strong finish to the season on both sides of the puck, breaking out for four goals and six assists in 21 playoff games as Oshawa advanced to the OHL final, where they were swept by the London Knights. Still, he was drafted earlier than expected, with most (including
TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s polling of NHL scouts) projecting him as a mid-to-late second-round pick.