The Detroit Red Wings have signed forward Mason Appleton to a two-year, $5.8MM contract per PuckPedia. PuckPedia adds that Appleton will be due $3MM of salary in the first year of the deal, and $2.8MM in the second year. The deal will move Appleton away from his second stint with the Winnipeg Jets, which spanned the last four seasons.
Appleton has emerged as a reliable utility forward over the course of his seven years in the NHL. He contributed 10 goals, 22 points, 22 penalty minutes, and a plus-seven through 71 games with the Jets this season, while operating out of a bottom-six role. He took a quiet step down in both minutes and impact this season, after posting a career-high 14 goals, 36 points, and plus-16 while also recording a career-high 16 minutes of average ice time last year. Even with that dock, Appleton has found strong footing in an everyday lineup role after missing half of the 2022-23 season with a wrist injury that required surgery.
At 29 years old, Appleton seems well glued to a hardy bottom-six role. He has recorded 57 goals, 138 points, a plus-35, and 124 penalty minutes through 400 career games in the NHL. Appleton also adds a notable amount of hits and blocked shots each year. Looking at all seven years of his pro career, Appleton has averaged 28 points, a plus-seven, 31 blocked shots, and 83 hits per 82 games played. He will offer stout depth behind Red Wings newcomer James van Riemsdyk, though may need to compete for a nightly role with Jonatan Berggren or Elmer Soderblom.
Appleton is the type of player a solid playoff team would want, And need.
Mason Appleton is a good bottom six guy and will definitely give more depth to Detroit’s roster. His $3M AAV is a bit overvalued for him but in this market, it’s not entirely surprising.
Glad he’s gone
Yzerman has no concept of roster cohesiveness. It’s just a pile of players.
You need leaders in the locker room for roster cohesiveness.
You do, but that’s different than what I’m talking about…
They have guys who are miscast for their roles, guys who play obviously different styles than their linemates, etc. and the piece don’t mesh.
Coaching staff determines who plays where and what systems to employ. It takes time and practice to get player buy in, and competition -pre season and some early season games to hone the lines for the season.
Not every player can assimilate and those can be traded as needed. Some are just head cases but suspect those are mostly well known to the the NHL GMs and coaches. Player’s attractiveness depends upon physical hockey skills, his mental game, and ability to assimilate to the team’s systems. We’ve all seen high caliber players who have physical and mental game skills but fail miserably on assimilation. Thankfully there are up and coming players in the Wing’s organization that can fill the voids when needed.
I find that the hockey commenters are often more reasonable on this site. That said, Steve Yzernan is souring himself on the city.
Any Red Wings or other NHL team focused site/blog has the most knee jerk reactionary deranged commenters. It’s the instant gratification crowd. Same people who complained about drafting Mo Seider.