Training camp is where all those summer roster projections finally have to meet reality. We can look at depth charts and try to figure out who is going to make the Toronto Maple Leafs, but there are always a few players who have a chance to mess with those plans.
Bo Groulx and Marshall Rifai probably aren’t at the top of anybody’s list when they think about the Maple Leafs’ roster. But both have something to prove, and both could give the new coaching and management staff something to think about if they have a good camp.
How Do the Maple Leafs Not Give Bo Groulx a Real Chance This Training Camp?
I have to admit, Bo Groulx is one of those players I’ll be watching pretty closely when Maple Leafs training camp opens. He did get a short look with Toronto last season and was solid enough, but then he went back to the Marlies and helped them win the Calder Cup. And while that might not sound like a huge audition for an NHL job, I thought Groulx brought something to the lineup that the team could use: energy. He played with the kind of compete level that makes you notice a guy. And, in a lineup that showed so little energy, he showed up like a sunny day.
Benoit-Olivier Groulx of the Toronto Marlies (John Mrakovcich/Hartford Wolf Pack)
Then you look at what he did with the Marlies, and it’s pretty hard to ignore. Groulx finished third among Marlies players with 52 points and led the team with 28 goals. Those aren’t just numbers you casually brush aside. He showed he could produce, but he also seemed to play with confidence and purpose. Every time I watched him, there was something happening. He was involved. He was around the puck. He brought some push to the game.
And that’s why I think the Maple Leafs should give him a chance in camp. I’m not saying Groulx should automatically make the team. But give him meaningful preseason minutes. Put him in a position where he can actually show what he can do. If he earns the job, keep him. If he doesn’t, send him back to the Marlies. But after the way he played last season, I don’t know how Toronto can look at him and not give him a serious chance.
Is Marshall Rifai Still a Maple Leafs Option Under John Chayka?
There’s something interesting about Marshall Rifai as the Maple Leafs head into training camp. He isn’t the kind of defenceman who is going to get anybody excited with a highlight-reel play. He’s more like comfort food. You know what you’re getting. He’s willing to block shots, play a simple game and take on the kind of sheltered minutes that can be useful when a team is dealing with injuries. If the Maple Leafs find themselves short on the left side, Rifai is one of the players waiting for another opportunity.
But here’s the part I find more interesting: Rifai was someone the old leadership group seemed to like, but this isn’t their team anymore. Jim Hiller is going to have his own ideas about what he wants from his defencemen. So Rifai isn’t necessarily starting from the same place he was a year ago. His 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 particular kind of hockey has a place on this team.
I think that makes Rifai worth watching in camp. The team doesn’t need every defenceman to be an offensive driver. They need some players who can make the safe play, kill a penalty, get in the way of a shot and make life a little easier for the guys ahead of them. If Chayka and Hiller still see value in that kind of player, Rifai could work his way back into the conversation. He just has to show that his simple, physical game can still be useful in the way this new version of the Maple Leafs wants to play.
What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?
Training camp could be interesting. We spend the summer trying to figure out the Maple Leafs’ roster, but a few players can make those plans a little less certain. Groulx has the production and energy to make a case, while Rifai offers a different kind of reliability on defence.
Neither player is guaranteed a job, but both deserve to walk into camp knowing they have something to prove. Sometimes those are the players who end up making things interesting. I love a good underdog story and training camp could give us plenty of them.
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