Winnipeg Jets announce new key contract extension

The Winnipeg Jets have taken care of an important matter of personnel business earlier today, avoiding arbitration with forward Mason Appleton and coming to an agreement on a new contract extension. The pact is for three seasons, running through the 2024-25 campaign and carries an AAV of $2.167 million. 

The two sides were scheduled to face one another in front of a contract arbiter, but that process was able to be avoided by general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff. 

A 6th round draft selection of the Jets in 2015, Appleton spent the first three years of his career with Winnipeg before being exposed in the 2021 Expansion Draft; he would be taken by the Seattle Kraken with whom he would play 49 games last season, scoring six goals with 11 assists. However, he'd be re-acquired by the Jets at the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline. 

In 206 career NHL games, Appleton has tallied a total of 28 goals with 36 assists. He'll be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent at the age of 29 when his new contract expires.