Training camp has a way of blowing up tidy roster plans, and the Maple Leafs have a couple of names who could do exactly that. Bo Groulx and Marshall Rifai aren’t the obvious headliners when people sketch out Toronto’s depth chart, but both arrive with a case to make and a chance to force the new coaching and management group to pay attention.
Groulx is the one who feels impossible to ignore after last season. He got a brief look with Toronto, held his own, then went back to the Marlies and helped them win the Calder Cup.
The part that stood out, though, wasn’t just the results - it was the way he played. He brought energy, he competed hard, and in a team that didn’t show much of that, he popped.
He had the kind of presence that makes you notice when he’s on the ice.
The numbers from his Marlies season only strengthen that argument. Groulx finished third on the team with 52 points and led the way with 28 goals.
That’s real production, not just a nice little stretch. More than that, he looked engaged every time he was out there.
He was around the puck, involved in the play and playing with a purpose that seemed to carry over shift after shift.
That’s why he feels like a player Toronto ought to give a proper look in camp. Not a token look.
A real one. Put him in meaningful preseason minutes and see whether he can earn his way into the conversation.
If he does, keep him. If not, send him back to the Marlies.
But after what he did last season, it would be hard to justify not giving him a serious opportunity.
Rifai’s case is different, but it’s interesting in its own way. He isn’t the kind of defenceman who turns heads with flash.
His value comes from the basics: blocking shots, keeping things simple and handling sheltered minutes when a team needs a steady option. If Toronto gets hit by injuries on the left side, he’s the sort of player who can step into the mix.
The wrinkle is that Rifai is no longer working under the same leadership group that seemed to value him before. Jim Hiller is going to have his own ideas about what he wants from his blue line, so Rifai is not starting from the same place he was a year ago.
Injuries slowed him last season, and he never really got the chance to establish himself in Toronto. Now he has to convince a new group that his style still fits.
That makes him a name worth tracking through camp. Not every defenceman has to drive offense.
Some guys just need to make the safe play, kill a penalty, get in shooting lanes and make the night easier for the players around them. If John Chayka and Hiller still see that kind of usefulness, Rifai has a path back into the picture.
He just has to show that his straightforward, physical game still has a place with this version of the Maple Leafs.
That’s what makes camp intriguing. The Leafs may have spent the summer building out projections, but players like Groulx and Rifai can scramble those plans in a hurry.
Neither is guaranteed anything. Both have something to prove.
And that’s often where the most interesting battles begin.
In Other News...
Matthew Knies Deal Already Looks Better For The Leafs
Matthew Knies long-term deal with the Maple Leafs was signed with the usual mix of hope and risk that comes with paying for upside before it has fully matured. Toronto committed six years at a $7.75 million average annual value in 2025, betting that Knies would keep trending into a key top-six piece and that the price would look sensible as the salary cap and comparable contracts kept moving. At the time, it was a notable investment in a player still building his full resume.
Now the market around other young forwards is starting to make that number look even more reasonable. Cutter Gauthier, a restricted free agent with the Anaheim Ducks, is reportedly in negotiations that could land in the $15-17 million AAV range, with Leo Carlssons recent $18 million AAV extension hanging over those talks as a reference point. Knies and Gauthier are different players in different situations, but the broader takeaway for Toronto is hard to miss: a contract that once looked ambitious can start to feel sharp if the next wave of comparables keeps climbing. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Projected Lineup Puts Familiar Faces In A Tough Spot
The Maple Leafs projected 2026-27 lineup offers a snapshot of how much the roster could change after a round of organizational adjustments, with new acquisitions and coaching tweaks reshaping the teams balance up front and on the back end. The exercise is less about where Toronto is today and more about how the club might try to blend scoring punch with more reliable two-way play if the right pieces settle into place.
What makes the projection interesting for Leafs followers is the way it creates pressure points for familiar faces while opening the door for newcomers to carve out meaningful roles. Health and consistency remain part of the conversation, especially in goal, where the team is still trying to sort out how much trust to place in Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz as the position gets redefined around them. [Read more 🡒]