Winnipeg Jets Prospect Report – JC Lipon, Nic Petan, and Mason Appleton

Isn’t it a little surprising that it’s taken JC Lipon this long to make the Winnipeg Jets?  When will Nic Petan stick in the NHL? How long will it take for Mason Appleton to crack the Jets lineup and have a chance to stick?

JC Lipon

JC Lipon, the Winnipeg Jets 3rd round pick in 2013 already turned 24 this past summer. Lipon has only played nine games as a Jet, and it’s been a very long process for him to develop. He was expected to be playing something like a regular shift on the Jets last season, but that didn’t happen and hasn’t even been called up at all this year.  Perhaps this could be something to do with him not generally being a big point producer, but Lipon is a hard worker and should be in the NHL soon.

Lipon needs to find himself a spot on the Jets soon. He could end up being a player who comes up for a few games a season. (Does this maybe remind you of a similar situation with Patrice Cormier?) The Jets would most likely want Lipon to have a bigger role on the team than that, so I think it’s time to give him another shot as a call up soon.

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Nic Petan

Nic Petan, is a small skilled Jets/Moose centre who wasn’t able to stick with the Winnipeg Jets this season. It only took Petan six games with the Jets to get re-assigned to the Moose. Petan played 54 games with the Jets last season, but wasn’t able to continue to play in the NHL. Obviously the Jets thought he was due for a bit more development down in the AHL.

Hopefully Petan can be a good part of the Jets core in the next few years. His only disadvantage will be his size, but if he can prove that he’s a good player, it shouldn’t be a problem. He’s currently doing really well with the Moose, at just under a point per game.

Mason Appleton

Ever since the Jets drafted Appleton, I knew he could be good. A few years back, I got to see Mason Appleton play for the first time at a Jets rookie camp. I was quite impressed, and I was also quite shocked to find out he was a 6th round pick.

This season, he has 22 points in 26 games with the Moose. I think as a 6th round pick, those numbers are quite impressive, and will get him noticed by the Jets. If Appleton turns out for the Jets, he will help add to their already deep team.

With all this talk about Appleton looking like a good pick, I think I should mention this. Appleton is a good prospect but also could be huge trade bait. “Why is that?”, you may ask. Appleton is just at a perfect level of skill and potential for the Jets to be willing to deal him away, but also to have enough value for teams to have a good amount of interest.