Avalanche assign former first-round pick to AHL Colorado

While Avalanche winger Riley Tufte has been productive on his latest recall, it wasn’t enough to keep him up with the big club for long as Colorado has assigned him to the minors, per a team announcement.

The 25-year-old became a Group Six unrestricted free agent in the summer and quickly inked a one-year deal with Colorado on the opening day of free agency. Since then, he has frequently been shuffled back and forth between the Avs and Eagles; this demotion is already his sixth of the season.

Along the way, Tufte has played in five contests with the big club and picked up a point in each of his last two. Those are his only two points of the season while he’s averaging a little over 11 minutes a night at the top level. 

In the minors, however, Tufte has been quite productive, notching nine goals and eight assists in just a dozen games. That should have him in line to be recalled again before too long.

At this point, it’s unclear who will be taking Tufte’s spot in the lineup Saturday against Calgary. Logan O’Connor has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury but remains on the active roster, suggesting his absence is a short-term one so it’s possible that he is cleared to play. 

Otherwise, Tomas Tatar would come back in after being a healthy scratch Friday night; the 32-year-old is still looking for his first goal of the season.