Future Minnesota Duluth forward Riley Tufte of Blaine, Minn., continues to be projected as a potential first-round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft to be held June 24-25 in Buffalo, N.Y.
In the final NHL Central Scouting Service rankings released Tuesday, Tufte remains at No. 17 among North American skaters, as he was during the mid-term rankings. Tufte has split time this season between Blaine High School and the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League. He signed a national letter of intent in November to play for the Bulldogs beginning this fall.
Joey Anderson, who also signed a letter of intent to join UMD this fall, slipped from No. 52 to 56. He spent all of this season with the U.S. National Team Development Program, which is competing in the U-18 World Championships starting today in Grand Forks, N.D. Another future Bulldog, Hibbing-Chisholm junior defenseman Scott Perunovich, fell from No. 109 in the mid-terms to 161 in the final rankings.