Tufte was placed on waivers by New Jersey on Sunday.
Tufte secured a one-year contract with New Jersey in the offseason after he spent the 2025-26 campaign in Boston's organization. He scored a goal across four games with Boston and was also effective with AHL Providence, where he posted 32 goals and 56 points across 64 regular-season outings. If he goes unclaimed over the next 24 hours, he'll open the 2026-27 campaign likely to play a large role for AHL Utica. Given that he was one of the last depth forwards on New Jersey's roster ahead of Sunday, he'll likely be one of the first names up from the minors if the team runs into injury trouble.