Arizona Coyotes assign Michael Bunting to Tucson Roadrunners

The Arizona Coyotes announced Friday that forward Michael Bunting was reassigned to the Tucson Roadrunners, a day after forward Brad Richardson was activated from IR and played in a game against the St. Louis Blues.

Multiple reports indicated Thursday that Bunting was placed on waivers. He is not waivers exempt, so he needed to clear waivers before the Coyotes could move him to their AHL affiliate.

Bunting, 23, has played five NHL games this year with one goal and no assists, averaging 9:33 time on ice.

In Tucson this season, the fourth-round pick in 2014 has appeared in 29 games and scored 11 goals with 15 assists and a plus-14 rating.

Richardson had been out with an injury since Jan. 10 but played 13:30 on Thursday night in his return. He registered two shots on goal and 1:29 on the penalty kill. He won 54 percent of his faceoffs as the Coyotes fell 4-0.

“You’re just trying to get back in there. It’s never easy,” Richardson said. “I’ve been skating for a month straight but it’s never easy when you’re getting back into game pace this time of year. So you’re just trying to get back in it. After the first, I felt pretty good. I’m still not where I want to be but hopefully in the next few games I get back up to speed.”

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