It was a breakout season for Mason Appleton who proved he can play with the big boys as he logged his first games in the NHL. Although Appleton didn’t make the team out of training camp, he was able to make his debut partway through the season as injuries arose. Not only did Appleton play his first NHL game, but he logged 36 total games from December to February while chipping in an impressive 10 points on the fourth line. With some moving parts during this summer, Appleton will be looking to make his case for a full time spot with the Jets coming into training camp.

Appleton still has one year left on his entry level contract as he played with the Moose two seasons ago before splitting time between the Jets and Moose last season. It might be a smart move for Cheveldayoff to try and lock Appleton up as soon as possible because if Appleton has a breakout year, his asking price will increase substantially. In the meantime, Appleton is on the books for 742k, which might provide great value if Appleton takes another step forward next year.

Although on the radar, most people expected Appleton to get sent to the Moose out of training camp and spend most of the season in the AHL. As expected, there were others that were more NHL ready and Appleton began the season with the Moose. Things began to work out after that for Appleton as Vesalainen decided to leave North America which bumped Appleton up on the depth chart.

With injuries arising shortly after that, Appleton got the call and played in his first game on December 1 against the New Jersey Devils. He played only 8:36 but managed to notch his first career point as he picked up an assist in the victory. He was a mainstay in the lineup after that as he helped create a decent energy line for the Jets alongside fellow rookie Brendan Lemieux.

As far as Appleton’s stats are concerned, he finished with three goals and seven assists. Those are really strong numbers considering that Appleton was playing on the fourth line and only getting 8:12 minutes per game. The advanced stats for Appleton are mediocre, but that’s to be expected given his status as a rookie on the fourth line. He finished the year in the middle of the pack among Jets skaters with an on-ice xGoals% of 48.3% and a scoring chances for % of 50.61%.

The shot map is average, but again, given Appleton’s status as a rookie, on the fourth line, playing with Lemieux, that’s a decent result. The eye test looks favorably on Appleton as well. Perhaps the best praise to give for a fourth line player is that they aren’t noticed when they are on the ice. That describes Appleton’s play quite well. He makes smart plays and puts his teammates in favorable situations more often than not. The offense will come with more time in the league, but for now, Appleton is off to a strong start in his young career.

Appleton has been a pleasant surprise over the past two seasons. He was extremely impressive as a rookie for the Moose in 2017-18 before making a splash with both the Moose and the Jets last year. With such a strong rise, Appleton will be pushing to make the opening day lineup out of training camp. He will likely stay in a fourth line role for now, but if some pieces get moved, he might find his way onto the third line next season. As mentioned above, if the organization thinks Appleton is due for a breakout campaign, they might try to sign him to a medium term deal before the season even begins. If not, Appleton might be due for a larger raise next summer.