Jan. 3rd: According to a team announcement, the Jets have placed Appleton on injured reserve (retroactive to Dec. 28th) as expected. Winnipeg takes on the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow night so there may be a corresponding roster move to fill the open roster spot.
Dec. 31st: The Winnipeg Jets will have a major hole on their third line for the foreseeable future. Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press reported yesterday evening that forward Mason Appleton would miss the next few weeks with a lower-body injury.
Appleton didn’t play in last night’s contest against the Nashville Predators. This likely means the lower-body injury was suffered at practice considering Appleton skated in nearly 16 minutes of the Jets’ game against the Ottawa Senators on December 28th.
It’ll be the first time in nearly two years that Appleton has missed an extended period. He played in all 82 games for Winnipeg last season scoring 14 goals and 36 points for the highest-scoring campaign of his career.
The Jets will have big shoes to fill on one of the most consistent third lines over the last several years. Appleton typically plays on the right wing next to Adam Lowry and Nino Niederreiter, so they may need to make a roster move to fill the void.
Winnipeg hasn’t dealt with too many injuries this season but has leaned on Brad Lambert and Nikita Chibrikov for recalls when Nikolaj Ehlers lost time with an injury a few weeks ago. The Jets could again recall one of these better prospects from their system or move stagnating forward Rasmus Kupari to the third line to create an offensive jolt in his game.