Appleton contributing at both ends of the ice for Jets

WINNIPEG - Just 10 games into the condensed season, Winnipeg Jets forward Mason Appleton is finding the score sheet at a higher rate than at any point in his early NHL career.
His five points in his team's first 10 outings have him averaging half a point per game, up from 0.17 in his injury shortened 2019-20 campaign, and 0.28 in his rookie season in 2018-19.
He knows there is far more to his job on a nightly basis than putting up points, but as someone who has 99 points in 120 American Hockey League games with the Manitoba Moose, he's more than capable of it.

Case in point, his assist on Tuesday's opening shorthanded goal from Trevor Lewis. Appleton jumped on a drop pass play made by the Flames, stalled until Lewis found his way to the high slot, then hit him with a perfect pass to set Lewis up for his first goal as a Jet.
"That's a play that they seem to try and make every time they come up the ice on the power play," said Appleton. "It's just a matter of trying to make the right read and jumping at the right time to try and get a stick on it."

The 25-year-old Appleton is fourth amongst Jets forwards in shorthanded ice time this season and spent 1:20 of his 12:23 in Tuesday's victory on the penalty kill.
He was also one of nine Jets to have at least one blocked shot. The team a whole got in front of 24 shot attempts from the Flames.
That played a big role in the fact that Laurent Brossoit had only seen 14 shots through 40 minutes.
"We liked how we started that game. We did a lot of good things out of the gate and we continued that for 40 minutes," said Appleton. "When you have that lead in the third, sometimes you have a tendency to sit back on your heels when that really shouldn't be the way to go about it, but we got the win and LB was strong in net."
Appleton's three shots on goal in the 3-2 victory were tied for the third most among Jets skaters. It helped the Jets earn an important split on the back-to-back, improving them to 2-1-0 in the back half of those situations so far this season.
The Jets have now seen the Flames three times this season (tied with the Ottawa Senators for the most meetings with an individual opponent so far). Despite that though, head coach Paul Maurice has noticed it hasn't led to anything overly physical.
"You can't run around in these games. Everybody feels the importance of every game," said Maurice. "Both teams have shown, at times, a real lethal power play. You don't want to be casual with the penalties you take. The cost is too high."
Playing in those types of games is why Appleton continues to put so much emphasis on his development.
Since being drafted as part of the memorable 2015 NHL Draft class for the Jets, Appleton was nearly a point-per-game player with the NCAA's Michigan State Spartans for two seasons, then was named the AHL's Rookie of the Year in 2018.
He was also named an AHL All-Star in the 2018-19 campaign, the same season that he scored his first NHL goal - one of three he'd score at the NHL level that season.
"It doesn't happen overnight. You gain trust by doing the right things and being consistent, working as hard as you can at both ends of the ice," said Appleton. "For me this year, to start off the season, I've got off on the right foot and I've just continued to grow my game."