Heartlanders add Tufto

Coralville, Iowa – The Iowa Heartlanders, ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild and American Hockey League's Iowa Wild, announced the team has signed forward Odeen Tufto to a contract for the 2023-24 season.

Tufto is entering his third professional season and has produced 38 points (10g-28a) in 48 career ECHL games with Orlando and Atlanta. He also brings AHL experience to Iowa, skating in eight games with the Syracuse Crunch in parts of two seasons. Last year, Tufto scored seven points (3g-4a) in 12 games with Atlanta before moving to Germany’s DEL2, where he tallied 15 points (5g-10a) in 12 games for the Krefeld Penguins.

The 26-year-old’s best offensive season came as a rookie in 2021-22 when he posted 31 points (7g-24a) in 36 games with Orlando while also skating in four games with the Crunch.The Chaska, Minnesota native was one of the best point-producing players at the NCAA level over a four-year career at Quinnipiac University (2017-21). As a senior in 2020-21, he led the nation with 39 assists, captained the Bobcats to the NCAA Tournament, received numerous distinctions including ECAC Player of the Year and First Team All-ECAC Hockey and was also named a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. He posted 168 points (39g-129a) in 139 career games at Quinnipiac and led the school in points all four seasons. Following his collegiate hockey career, Tufto signed an ATO with Syracuse in March 2021 and then a one-year entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 2021-22 season. Last summer, Tufto agreed to an AHL contract with Tuscon prior to the start of the 2022-23 campaign.