Jonathon Blum
Defenseman
6'1"
186 lbs
Shoots: Right
Born: January 30, 1989
Birthplace: Long Beach, California
Acquired: Signed a 1 year, $650,000 deal on July 12th
We kick off the New Face series this summer with the Wild's least talked about move. They signed Jonathon Blum to a two way contract (numbers listed above), as he was coming off another disappointing season with Nashville and was not re-signed in the Music City.
Blum was the Preds first round pick (23rd overall) in the 2007 NHL Draft. He was outstanding while playing for the Vancouver Giants (WHL), putting up great point totals (see above insert) while manning the blue line. He projected to be a solid offensive blue liner in the NHL, but once he signed his entry level contract things did not go as planned.
Whether it was the AHL or NHL, Blum struggled to put up points and his inefficiency in the defensive zone stuck out much more. In just 33 games for Nashville in 2011-12 , he was a -14 while only putting up seven points. In the lockout shortened 2012-13 season, he notched another seven point campaign while playing in 35 games. Not exactly what you want from a guy like Blum.
The signing of Blum was plain and simple, a depth signing. Blum took a two way contract and should be spending most of, if not all, of his 2013-14 season with the Wild's AHL affiliate in Iowa. He should project to be on their top defense pairing and should get significant power play time. The only way he makes it up to the NHL this year is if a Wild defenseman goes down with injury.
His deal is a low risk high reward type of deal, so it is virtually harmless for the Wild to give him a shot. Maybe he just needed a change of scenery to turn it around.
His deal is a low risk high reward type of deal, so it is virtually harmless for the Wild to give him a shot. Maybe he just needed a change of scenery to turn it around.
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