MONTREAL — The Toronto Maple Leafs have called up forward Bo Groulx from the Toronto Marlies, the club announced Tuesday. Currently on a seven-game losing streak (0-5-2), the Maple Leafs have indicated that at some point, they will start giving players with the Marlies more opportunities. Groulx leads the Marlies in scoring this season with 27 goals and 23 assists in 50 games. A second-round draft pick (54th overall) by the Anaheim Ducks in 2018, Groulx played in 45 games with Anaheim in 2023-24, registering two assists. The Leafs are short on center depth after trading Nicolas Roy to the Colorado Avalanche for a conditional first-round draft pick in 2027 and a conditional fifth-round pick and 2026. They also traded Scott Laughton to the Los Angeles Kings for a conditional third-round draft pick in 2026 that can become a second-rounder if the Kings make the playoffs this season. At practice on Monday, Jacob Quillan was promoted to the third line center position [https://x.com/davidalter/status/2031026556957610148?s=20], skating on a line with Easton Cowan and Nick Robertson. Toronto's fourth line consisted of Steven Lorentz centering a line with Dakota Joshua and Calle Jarnkrok. Groulx said he wasn't 100 percent sure if he would be in the lineup to make his team debut. However, Calle Jarnkrok was the only forward to stay out late to do extra work, indicating that the Groulx is would indeed make his Leafs debut on Tuesday. Q: On getting called up and playing against Montreal Yeah, it feels good. I'm not too sure if I'm in the lineup yet, but if I'm in, it'd be a very special moment. I might have some friends and family coming over. I know a lot of people from Montreal, so if I get the chance to be in, it'd be a good moment for sure. Q: Did you grow up a Habs fan? Unfortunately, I didn't. I grew up kind of a Sabres fan. Yeah, just because Danny Briere was there, and he's from back home in Gatineau. So I always liked the Sabres, and Ryan Miller used to be my favorite goalie. Q: What kind of game you want to bring at this level? Yeah, I think I've improved a lot of my offensive game the past two years, honestly. And this year, playing with Logan Shaw and Vinny Lettieri for most of the year, it's been really, really helpful. They helped me really focus on my offensive game a bit more than my defensive game. Shawzu was taking all their responsibilities defensively, and that helped me not forget about that part, but kind of show my skills a little bit more in that regard. I think that's helped me a lot as a forward, and Vinny has a totally different view on the offensive side of the game, which has really helped me skills-wise. It's been really helpful for me this year. Q: His approach has helped you how in just the way he sees the game or it allows you to be more creative? Yes, exactly. I've played with Vin in San Diego actually for two years when I was with Anaheim. Just his view of the offensive game is totally different than mine as a defensive-minded guy. I know he watches (Nikita) Kucherov a lot in the way he thinks the game, so I think he kind of takes away of his game a lot and you want to, I guess, transmit that to other players on his line so we can all think the same way and and just offensively where positions himself and how he protects puck along the wall how he picks up rims on the wall and starts moving right away, that really helped me create separation and I think offensively like you want to create plays with your skills and shot, but also you can create a lot of offense with your feet by creating separation on cutbacks and everything. So that's probably the biggest part for me Q: You've played at the Bell Centre before with Anaheim this time around, how will be different with Habs-Toronto? How do you expect this experience to be different? Well, I haven't played a Habs-Toronto game except actually in preseason this year. But I don't expect anything different. I think Montreal, they have a really good team. And I think we still have a really good team. We've got some unreal players in this room. And I think we have a lot of pride, too, in winning some games, even though what happened at the deadline, we don't have control over that. But come game time, it's game on. You're playing for two points, so we'll be ready for sure. Q: And if you're in the lineup, what will your mindset be? What will you want to focus on tonight? Yeah, I think I got to focus on my speed. It's probably my biggest asset as a player, and that's probably how I create the most offense with that. But if I'm playing, I'm guessing I'm going to be at center. So, yeah, defensively, I think I'm a reliable player. So showing my two-way game and hopefully chip in some goals. Q: Well, it's an hockey family. If you do get in tonight and you mentioned you have family here, what will this mean to the family who is here and certainly watching? Yeah, it would mean a lot to them. They know what I've been through the past two years, especially with injuries and getting called up, sent down, not playing, not knowing where I'm going to be. I think it's been difficult the past two years, but I think if I get the chance to play, I think it's going to be really rewarding to see all the work that I put in over the past two years coming back in the NHL. So I think it'd be as much rewarding for them and for me as they supported me for those two years. Q: From a mental standpoint, was there ever a moment where you thought, maybe I'm not going to get back into the NHL? Maybe I'm not going to be stuck in the AHL? How have you kind of processed that? Not at all. Like I said, I was so young my first two years in the NHL. Like I was 21 and 23, and it didn't work out as I expected. But there was never really a moment where I was like, oh, okay, this is my last game. I'm done. I don't know, I'm going to Europe or something. Like, yeah, I haven't – it wasn't my thought process at all. I knew my place. Like, I knew what I could do in the NHL that I wasn't able to do, I guess. So, like I said, the past few years, I've been working on a lot, working on my offensive game a lot, which has helped me a lot in the American League and getting called back up today.
