After an injury-plagued debut in Detroit, the veteran forward must rediscover his scoring touch to secure his future and anchor the Red Wings' bottom-six rotation.
Going into this upcoming season, the Detroit Red Wings will have plenty of players under the microscope, but one storyline may go largely unnoticed. Mason Appleton, a 30-year-old veteran entering the final year of his contract, is set up for one of the more underrated arcs on the roster this season.
Heading into his tenth NHL season and second with Detroit, Appleton will be looking to prove himself ahead of his next contract, ideally with a season that gets him back closer to his career-high 36 points, a mark he set back in 2023-24 with Winnipeg. He's expected to slot into the third line and spend most of the season in Detroit's bottom six.
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The Green Bay, Wisconsin native has never signed an NHL deal longer than three years, and his next contract, which would be his fifth as an NHL veteran, could be the one that carries him into his mid-30s if he can put together a strong platform year.
That won't be easy coming off a rough first season in Detroit as Appleton battled a lower-body injury for much of the year, appearing in just 65 games and finishing with six goals and eight assists for 14 points, his lowest full-season output since 2022-23. He also posted a minus-4 rating, his first negative plus/minus mark in five years.
With a full, healthy season ahead of him, Appleton will be looking to reestablish himself as a reliable NHL depth piece, whether that means a new deal in Detroit or elsewhere around the league.
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