Daily Faceoff projects Maple Leafs’ Ben Danford to make Team Canada’s World Juniors team

Ellis wrote that Danford “can shut down just about anyone,” and we agree with the assessment. Danford was always expected to be a stay-at-home defenseman, with a mandate to work on his offensive game during his final two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League.

This is what Ellis wrote about Danford in August:

Danford already has plenty of big-game experience, having played in two consecutive OHL championship series. Neither turned out to be fertile, but he still looked good regardless. Danford is a guy his teammates like to rely on, as he is rarely caught making a mistake when distributing the puck. I saw Danford play on both sides of the blue line last year, but I think he has something on the left side – it suits his shot better. Danford said he hopes to be like Chris Tanev, which I think is a fair comparison. He’ll probably excel as a number four defenseman in Toronto, but I think he’ll be pretty reliable.