Jets, Appleton avoid arbitration with 3-year deal

The Winnipeg Jets have signed forward Mason Appleton to a three-year contract carrying an average annual value of approximately $2.17 million.

Appleton, who was a restricted free agent, avoided arbitration with the pact that will pay him $2 million in the first season and $2.25 million for each of the next two, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

The 26-year-old had an arbitration hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Appleton collected eight goals and 13 assists in 68 games with the Jets and the Seattle Kraken this past season.

He started his career with the Jets, playing his first three seasons in Winnipeg before the Kraken chose him in the July 2021 expansion draft. But the Kraken then traded Appleton back to the Jets this past March in exchange for a 2023 fourth-round pick.

Winnipeg selected Appleton 168th overall in 2015.