Riley Jack Tufte (born April 10, 1998) is an American professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

player currently playing with the

Texas Stars The Texas Stars are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Cedar Park, Texas, near Austin, with home games at the H-E-B Center. They are owned by the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars and are the te ...

in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL) as a prospect to the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL). He formerly played for the

Fargo Force The Fargo Force is a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Force have won one league championship in 2018 and was awarded USHL Organization of the Year for 2008–09 and 2012–13. ...

of the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictl ...

(USHL), and played

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

for the

University of Minnesota Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a two-year pr ...

. Tufte was drafted in the first round, 25th overall, of the

2016 NHL Entry Draft The 2016 NHL Entry Draft was the 54th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The first three selections were Auston Matthews going to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrik Laine ...

by the Dallas Stars.

Playing career

Minors and college

Tufte played for Blaine High School in Minnesota, where he was awarded the 2015–16 Mr. Hockey Award in his senior year after he led all of Minnesota Class AA in goals scored. He also played two seasons for the

of the

USHL The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

, accumulating 19 points in 34 games, before deciding to go back to high school for his senior year. In March 2016, Tufte was invited to Team USA's 2016 National Junior Evaluation Camp, to prepare for the

2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 40th Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. It was hosted in Helsinki, Finland. It began on December 26, 2015, and ended with the gold medal game on January 5, 2016. This marked the sixth time ...

, however he broke his wrist during camp and could not play. Despite this, Tufte became the highest NHL draft pick in the history of the

when he was drafted in the first round of the

. Instead of going pro right away, Tufte decided to pursue higher education at the

. Tufte missed the beginning of his freshman season due to an injury but he completed the season with 16 points. He was off to a stronger start in his sophomore season, leading the team in scoring as they advanced through the

NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship ''NCAA men's ice hockey championship'' refers to either of the two tournaments in men's ice hockey – one in Division I and one in Division III – contested by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) since 1971. The NCAA Divisi ...

Professional

On April 17, 2019, Tufte signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the

after the conclusion of his junior collegiate season.

International play

Tufte's played in both the 2014 Under-17 Five Nations Cup and the 2014 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. He helped Team USA place second in the 2014 Under-17 Five Nations Cup. Tufte competed in the

2015 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament The 2015 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament was an under-18 international ice hockey tournament held in Břeclav, Czech Republic and Bratislava, Slovakia from 10 to 15 August 2015. Preliminary round ''All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2 ...

for Team USA, who finished fifth in the tournament. He later competed at the

2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 42nd edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, and was hosted by the city of Buffalo, New York at the KeyBank Center and HarborCenter. It opened on December 26, 2017 and closed wit ...

where he helped Team USA secure a bronze medal.

Personal life

Tufte was born and grew up in

Coon Rapids, Minnesota Coon Rapids is a northern suburb of Minneapolis, and is the largest city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 63,599 at the 2020 census, making it the fifteenth largest city in Minnesota and the seventh largest Twin Ci ...

with three siblings, his father Jamie, and mother Amy, who is a nurse. At the age of 11, Tufte was diagnosed with

Type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin (beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar f ...

. As a child, he received an inspirational letter from retired NHL player

Toby Petersen Tobias Emanuel Petersen (born October 27, 1978) is an American former professional ice hockey right winger who formerly played for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). He attended Colorado College, and was drafted by the Pitt ...

who also suffered from diabetes. In February of 2020 Riley and his wife, Morgan, welcomed their first son.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tufte, Riley 1998 births Living people American men's ice hockey left wingers Dallas Stars draft picks Dallas Stars players Fargo Force players Ice hockey players from Minnesota National Hockey League first-round draft picks Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey players People from Coon Rapids, Minnesota People from Ham Lake, Minnesota People with type 1 diabetes Texas Stars players