NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Riley Tufte

Get to Know Riley Tufte:

Date of Birth: 4/10/1998
Place of Birth: Ham Lake, MN, USA
Ht: 6’5″ Wt: 212 lbs
Shoots: Left
Position: Left Wing
Team (League): Fargo Force (USHL)

Statistics

What Scouts See

The Draft Analyst:

Tufte has excellent hands and securely controls the puck while on the move, and he uses his massive reach to keep ownership even as he moves laterally. His shot is heavy enough to keep goalies honest, even if he’s wiring one from a bad angle or from just inside the blue line.

Last Word on Sports:

Tufte has excellent size, coming in at 6’5″ tall. While he’s not a big hitter, he uses his size to win battles along the boards, to protect the puck in the cycle game, and to establish position in front of the net. He can provide an effective screen, and also tip in pucks, as well as pounce on rebounds. Given his size, he could stand to add some muscle to his frame to be even more effective when he begins facing bigger and tougher opposition.

What BSN Avalanche sees

He’s big and a great skater and not just for his size. He’s simply a great skater and him being 6’5″ only makes that more enticing. He has great hands and shows them off around the net, where he makes a living. He’s an immovable object at the high school level and his frame will only allow him to get stronger and continue to play into that. He used his body well in high school and understood he was a man amongst boys. Physically, he’s the kind of specimen teams fall in love with all the time.

When he got to the USHL, his confidence in his ability to physically overwhelm his opponents went away. He shrank from the competition more often and struggled to consistently find ways to be productive. He disappeared for large stretches in his tenures with the Fargo Force and the way he succeeded in HS struggled to translate against the higher level of competition in the USHL. For me, it’s a real concern that he had such a hard time being impactful against the increased competition and his disappearing act is a major red flag.

Highlights

NHL Potential

This one is tough for me. I see the potential but the Blake Wheeler comparisons don’t really do it for me. Wheeler is the most prominent comparable simply because he’s one of the few guys recently to succeed after being drafted straight out of high school. I don’t think Tufte has that kind of ceiling but I think he could be a decent depth forward in the NHL. His skating, size, and hands are all legit NHL-caliber but he has to learn to play the game at a higher level in order to reach that potential.

Expected Draft Position

For the most part, the rankings have him as a likely selection somewhere in the 20’s. I could easily see some teams being nervous about his uneven play in the USHL, however, and him slipping to the top part of the second round.

How Prospect Fits in Avalanche Organization

Tufte isn’t really that different from A.J Greer, whom they drafted in the second round last year. A power forward with skating ability and decent hands, Tufte would be a welcome addition to the Avalanche organization as another big-bodied forward with potential. The combination of Rantanen, Greer, and Tufte would give the Avalanche a very large and difficult group of skilled forwards should they all reach their potential. Like several other prospects in this area, however, it would require the Avalanche to make a move to select Tufte. He is not a candidate for 10th overall.