Maple Leafs management recalled benoit-olivier groulx from the Toronto Marlies on Tuesday, creating the immediate possibility that he will appear in an NHL game this season. That move, timed as Toronto travels to the Centre Bell to face the Canadiens tonight, signals a short-term opportunity for evaluation at the highest level.
Toronto Maple Leafs recall Benoit-olivier Groulx ahead of Centre Bell game
Team officials called up Benoit-Olivier Groulx from the Marlies on Tuesday, and Toronto is scheduled to play the Canadiens at the Centre Bell this evening. The recall is the confirmed current state: Groulx was summoned from the Marlies, and the Leafs are in Montreal for a game tonight. He could play in the NHL this season in front of family and friends.
Groulx is 26 and was a 2018 second-round draft pick of the Ducks of Anaheim. Context notes his most recent NHL stint came with the Ducks in 2021-2022, when he registered one goal and two assists over 18 games. One item in the context lists five points in 45 NHL games in the Bettman circuit, while another notes he appeared in 65 NHL games over three seasons with the Ducks.
Marlies scoring and organizational track: 27 goals and 50 points for Groulx
On the performance side, Groulx has 27 goals and 50 points in 54 games with the Toronto Marlies this season. Another passage states he is the Marlies’ leading scorer with 50 points, including 27 goals, and that the AHL club is deep in a race for the playoffs. For a player in his first season with the Toronto organization after three years in Anaheim and one season with the Hartford Wolf Pack, those numbers provide the concrete reason for the recall.
Groulx told team staff after practice that he did not yet know whether he would be in uniform for the game and that he was hopeful; he said the call to report was an encouraging sign. He also linked the call to wider roster planning, noting trade activity at the deadline and the Leafs’ need to think about the next season. Those remarks frame the recall as both immediate evaluation and longer-term consideration.
Scenarios if Groulx appears at the Centre Bell or returns to the Marlies
If he continues with the Maple Leafs into game action at the Centre Bell, the immediate effect will be an on-ice audition in Montreal. That conditional scenario — “If he plays in Montreal” — ties directly to his chance to show NHL readiness in front of family and friends, and it gives Toronto a fresh look at a 26-year-old who has been scoring at 27 goals and 50 points for the Marlies.
Should he not appear and instead return to the Marlies, Groulx will resume a leading role in a team that is pursuing a playoff spot. In that conditional scenario — “Should he return to Toronto’s AHL club” — he remains the Marlies’ top offensive producer, and his continued scoring would help that club in its race for the postseason while keeping his NHL prospect value visible to Leafs decision-makers.
Both scenarios are grounded in explicit context details: the recall on Tuesday, his 27 goals and 50 points in 54 AHL games, his age and draft history with Anaheim, and his status as a first-year member of the Toronto organization.
Next confirmed signal: whether Groulx is named to the Maple Leafs’ lineup for the game at the Centre Bell tonight. What the context does not resolve is whether he will be dressed for that game; the articles state only that he had been recalled and that he did not yet know if he would be in uniform. The game in Montreal will provide the immediate, concrete evidence of how the Leafs choose to use him.
