Full speed ahead for Appleton after signing deal with Jets

WINNIPEG - Mason Appleton's answer was short and concise when asked about the shoulder injury that took him out of the Qualifying Round against the Calgary Flames - and whether it was fully healed.
"Yup."
That wasn't the only injury the 24-year-old forward dealt with in 2019-20. He missed the 2019 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic with a broken bone in his foot, which also caused him to miss 19 games.
But Appleton has moved on from what he described as an "up and down" season and has confidence in his ability to come back stronger. The Winnipeg Jets management shares that confidence, and showed it by signing the Wisconsin product to a two-year contract on Oct. 9.

"I'm going to do everything I can every night to keep earning more ice time and more opportunity," said Appleton. "For me, it's just a day-in and day out approach of being a pro and being the best player and person I can be."
The 46 games Appleton did play last season were a career-high, as were the five goals he scored.
He embraced a new role last season, becoming an integral part of the Jets penalty kill, seeing his time on the PK jump from 8:51 total in 2018-19 to 42:55 this season - averaging just under a minute per game.
"I proved that last year at the end of the season that I can be effective in that role and did a good job in that," said Appleton, who scored his first career shorthanded goal on Jan. 8, 2020 in Toronto. "Hopefully there is an opportunity for growth there."

Appleton sees room for growth in all aspects of his game. He worked on improving his shot a couple seasons ago and while work on that will continue, he's focused on a different area heading into 2020-21.
"This off-season I focused on a couple specific things - lateral movement being one, just being quick out of the corners with the puck and being strong on the puck there," said Appleton, who stands at 6'2" and nearly 195 pounds.
"With my frame I think I can play that game below the goal line with the players we putt with, we can dominate down there and have a lot of puck possession time."
According to Natural Stat Trick, Appleton hovered around the 49 per cent mark in terms of even strength shot attempt percentage. An increased focus on possession time could lead to that number trending upward.
Also trending upward? His confidence. He's knocking on the door of 100 NHL games played (he currently sits at 82) and that, plus a new contract, goes a long way in feeling like he belongs.
"When you're trying to make an NHL club, you don't have that confidence right away. No matter what kind of player you are, you have to go earn that," Appleton said. "That's through games played and spending time in the league. Heading into this training camp I'm much more comfortable. I feel much better about my game and where it's headed."
He knows he's heading to Winnipeg when training camp opens and he's happy that while he held arbitration rights, the negotiations were wrapped up before that was required.
Now Appleton waits for training camp - one that he hopes will be a bit different than the one in July.
"It's tough to control," Appleton said in regards to the coronavirus pandemic. "I hope everything goes status quo from here on out and we can return to some normalcy - that being said, I'm talking about our team, the league, and life in general.
"There are question marks, but I'm hopeful everything can go back to how it was."