Mason Appleton: “It’s Like You Were On Vacation and Now You’re Back”

After 49 games with the expansion Seattle Kraken, Mason Appleton is back in Winnipeg for another kick at the can with the Jets.

For Mason Appleton, the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline served as a breath of fresh air, and no, not the repurposed green air of Climate Pledge Arena either.

After 49 games with the expansion Seattle Kraken, the 26-year-old is back in Winnipeg for another kick at the can with the Jets. And unless he’s putting on some sort of front, he is as happy as ever about it.

“When I got the call, I was coming back here I was obviously super thrilled about it because this is all I’ve known,” Appleton told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m super excited to be back here.”

That call, according to Appleton, actually came from Andrew Copp, who informed his old pal on Sunday night that he would be heading back to the Jets. General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff then gave Appleton a ring with the official word. As things would play out, Appleton and Copp would never quite get that reunion, as Chevy dealt Copp to New York the following day.

“You hear little things here and there from your agent,” Appleton added. “You can’t read into that too much, you gotta be where your feet are and let that stuff take care of itself.”

Having spent the first four seasons of his professional career in Manitoba with the team that drafted him in the sixth round back in 2015, the Green Bay, WI. product still feels as though he never really left.

“Yeah, even landing the plane yesterday you kind of felt like you were just back,” he laughed. “But then I went to the Delta so I’m not in a home yet, so that feels a little different. But just coming in, multiple guys said to me, “it’s just like you were on vacation or you were hurt and now you’re back”. So that’s kind of how it’s feeling, which is nice because it’s tough to walk in a room and obviously meet a ton of new faces. So it’s good to be back with familiar people.”

Of the current Jets lineup, only Evgeny Svechnikov, Adam Brooks, Brenden Dillon, Nate Schmidt and fellow deadline day acquisition Zach Sanford are new to Appleton. That in and of itself is night and day from his experience being selected by the Kraken in the 2021 Expansion Draft, alongside 30 other players from across the league.

“Obviously, we didn’t put the season together that we wanted, a lot more losses than wins which is always tough,” Appleton said of his time in Seattle. “Then you come to the deadline where the GM has to make a decision about players and the future of the team. He went the route of dumping a lot of guys for picks and I just so happen to be in the mix and now I’m here. But I enjoyed Seattle, definitely a bit of a different city than here. But like I said, this is what I know so I’m excited to be back here.”

Having seen his role increase heavily in 2020-21, Appleton put up 12 goals and 25 points in 56 games for the Jets, before adding a goal and three points in eight playoff games. He became a roster casualty when the club opted to protect its defence over offence, signalling what many thought was the end of Appleton’s time in Winnipeg. But coming back to a familiar lineup, he knows the team’s systems and strategy, despite a few minor changes.

“Everyone knows Lows and I have kind of played together for basically all 56 games last year,” he said of his old linemate. “I’ve already talked to the coaches and management and that’s where they see me as well. It’s very black and white for me here. In Seattle, it’s a new team and no one really knows each other and there’s a lot of sorting out to do, whether that’s good or bad. There’s new lines very often and you’re not winning hockey games consistently and they continue to get shuffled.”

Lowry, however, will not be centering Appleton and Sanford on Tuesday or Thursday, as he continues to isolate following a positive COVID diagnosis. Veteran centerman-turned-winger-turned-centerman Paul Stastny will be tasked with reacquainting with two former teammates.

Stastny, who was a member of the St. Louis Blues organization from 2014-18 slightly overlapped with the beginning of Sanford’s professional career back in 2017-18. And of course Stastny also suited up alongside Appleton last season in Winnipeg.

“I spent a lot of time with St. Louis so that bigger, heavier style, that definitely fits my game,” Sanford said of his time with the Blues. “Hanging onto pucks a lot more. Teams in the East are kind of run and gun, up and down the ice. I’m excited to see where I fit on this team and see what I can do to help the team win. It’s nice to be back to something you know… It’s good for me; it’s exciting coming here and trying to make a playoff push at the end of the year with these guys, and getting to see the guys today that we have here and where we stand in the standings. It’s going to be exciting here.”

Head coach Dave Lowry will surely appreciate the added depth that Appleton and Sanford will bring to the table. Currently sitting at 29-24-10 and four points behind Vegas for the final Western Conference wild card playoff spot, Tuesday’s home contest against those very Golden Knights will be a huge game with playoff implications galore.

“They’ll bring speed and they’ll bring skill,” Lowry said when asked about his team’s additions. “And they’ll bring compete into our lineup and that gives us a line you can use in a capacity to play against the other team’s top guys. They give us a responsible line and they bring veteran experience into our lineup. Sanford’s won a Stanley Cup. You bring that in, those are intangibles that we didn’t have. We have someone’s that’s been through it that can share in on his experience.”