The Toronto Maple Leafs placed forward Bo Groulx on waivers Monday afternoon, a move that became all but inevitable once Dakota Joshua returned to the active roster from a core muscle injury.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first reported the transaction, confirming that the 26-year-old depth center had lost his tenuous hold on an NHL roster spot.
Groulx had already been skating on the periphery even before Joshua’s return.
He appeared in fewer than half of Toronto’s games this season, last dressing against the Seattle Kraken on October 28 after sitting out the previous stretch following an October 17 outing versus the New York Islanders.
Across those seven contests, he went scoreless with a plus-1 rating while averaging just over eight minutes of ice time. He registered a dozen hits, yet the physical edge that marked his brief late-season run with the Leafs a year ago never fully resurfaced.
That earlier glimpse offered a different picture.
After Toronto sold off assets at the 2025 trade deadline, the organization recalled Groulx from the American Hockey League.
He responded with three goals and five points in 13 games and a plus-4 rating, showing enough to earn a two-year, one-way contract carrying an $812,500 cap hit.
The bulk of his 2025-26 campaign, however, unfolded with the Toronto Marlies, where he produced 28 goals and 52 points in 59 regular-season games.
He then added eight goals and 14 points in 23 Calder Cup playoff contests as the Marlies captured the championship.
Should he clear waivers Tuesday, Groulx returns to a familiar environment.
The Marlies sit at 6-4-1-0 early in the 2026-27 season and have hovered near the middle of the pack offensively; his proven AHL production would provide an immediate boost to their attack.
Born in Rouen, France, and raised in Gatineau, Quebec, Groulx was selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round of the 2018 draft.
Across 85 career NHL games, split between Anaheim and Toronto since 2021-22, he has totaled four goals and ten points, numbers that mark him as a reliable minor-league scorer and fringe NHL depth piece rather than a locked-in roster regular.
With Joshua back in the fold and the Leafs’ bottom-six forward group reshuffled, the decision to expose Groulx simply reflects the numbers.
A player who thrived when given consistent minutes in the AHL and who flashed competence in limited NHL duty now faces the standard waiver test.
If no club claims him, the Marlies regain one of their most productive forwards from last spring’s title run, while Toronto clears a roster spot without surrendering an asset of significant present value.
