Proposal: Jonathon Blum

[triggrman]

Reading comprehension isn't too strong here...
He said he doesn't want to play a strictly shut down role he had almost no offensive zone starts in Nashville and that's how you set up and offensive defenseman up to fail

When I was in Nashville, I was playing top 4 minutes, playing against teams’ best players every night. It doesn’t suit my game…â€

Yeah, our reading comprehension is the problem.....

 

[Infinite Jest]

At least Blum knows he isn't very good. They say the first step is admitting you have a problem...

 

[bananaslug]

Yeah, our reading comprehension is the problem.....

Anyone can take a quote out of context, way to leave out the more important sentence beforehand-

"So I’m looking to come into camp at the beginning of the year and earn my ice time….and be able to play an offensive game, a puck moving game, and not just focus on being a shutdown guy. "

He's clearly stating that he was used in a strictly defensive role and that isn't the type of player he is
Put Ellis in the same situation and see how he does

 

[triggrman]

He is clearly complaining about having to face other teams top lines.

And anyone saying he was used in a strictly shutdown roll is clearly stretching things. He didn't play on the penalty kill and averaged 1:08 per game on the powerplay.

Also, he and Ellis pretty much split the season with each other playing with the same partners.

Ryan Ellis, averaged 14:20 per game at even strength, while Blum only averaged 13:02.

What Blum should have said was, I'm sorry I let Josi come in and be the things I was supposed to be, then I let Bartley take over my roster spot.

 

[PredsV82]

Anyone can take a quote out of context, way to leave out the more important sentence beforehand-

"So I’m looking to come into camp at the beginning of the year and earn my ice time….and be able to play an offensive game, a puck moving game, and not just focus on being a shutdown guy. "

He's clearly stating that he was used in a strictly defensive role and that isn't the type of player he is
Put Ellis in the same situation and see how he does

So he's basically saying he needs sheltered minutes playing against other teams lower lines at even strength and oh by the way put me on the power play. He may in fact have a valid point, s we did exactly that for Cody Franson and do it to a certain extent with Ryan Ellis so I guess I can see his beef the problem is even when he got PP time he wasn't as effective and either Franson or Ellis.

I will be interested to see what becomes of him. If he does stick in the NHL with another team then either coaching was an issue our our defense is simply so good that an average guy on another team can't crack the lineup here

 

[Pattypred]

Teams should not have to adjust to a player's game - the player is suppose to be professional enough to adjust to the team's game.

 

[Tapp]

Sorry for the length of this, but Blum’s comments irked me. For Blum to imply that he didn’t get to play on the PP in Nashville is just wrong. To say he was only getting 14 minutes playing time in his last season may be true, but it ignores how he got down to 14 minutes.

After he played well after being called up in 2010-2011, ending the year on the 2nd pair at ES and on the 2nd PP unit , the coaches seemed to trust him at the start of the 2011-2012 season. He was given increased PK time, while remaining on the 2nd pair at ES and on the 2nd PP unit. When he didn’t perform well, he was sent down to the AHL. And by the time he earned another chance in 2013, he had slipped to the 3rd pair at ES with little to no PK time - but he was still given 2nd unit PP time to show his PP prowess.

After reading his complaint, I thought maybe he was eventually taken off the PP and I just didn’t remember. So, I checked his last 10 games in 2013. And there were 3 games in his last 10 when he didn’t get PP time, but in 2 of those 3 the Preds had 0 PP time as a team. He led the team in 1 game with 3:30 in PP time (yes, more PP time than either Weber or Josi). In 1 game he was 2nd to Josi in PP time. 4 times he was 3rd – behind Josi and Weber. And once he was 4th. So, even down to his last 10 games, he was still on the 2nd PP unit. In some of those games he didn’t get a lot of PP time, but you can’t blame the coaches for lack of PP time if the team is only getting 2 – 6 minutes of PP time a game. And surely, he doesn’t think he had earned 1st PP unit playing time, does he?

BTW, in those last 10 games in his ill-suited “shutdown defenseman†role that he says Trotz had him playing, he had 0 PK time in 9 games and 0:25 in 1 game.

Below are Blum’s playing time averages (compared to other defensemen) during his time in Nashville:

2010-2011 Regular season - 23 games
TOI/G – 17:45 (Ranked 5th – less than Weber, Suter, Klein and Bouillon)
SH TOI/G – 0:28 (Ranked 7th – only Cody Franson and Teemu Laakso (who played 1 game) averaged less)
PP TOI/G – 1:23 (Ranked 4th – only Suter, Weber and Franson averaged more)
Power Play points – 1 (a goal)

2010-2011 Playoffs - 12 games
TOI/G – 18:51 (Ranked 4th – after Suter, Weber and Klein)
SH TOI/G – 0:39 (Ranked 5th – only Franson had less)
PP TOI/G - 1:46 (Ranked 4th – behind Suter, Weber, and Franson)
Power Play Points – 0

2011-2012 Regular season - 33 games
TOI/G – 17:56 (6th – after Suter, Weber, Klein, Josi (who replaced him - 18:23), and Gill)
SH TOI/G – 1:37 (5th - behind Weber, Suter, Klein and Gill)
PP TOI/G – 1:11 (5th– after Weber, Suter, Ellis and Josi (1:20))
Power Play Points – 0

2013 Regular season – 35 games
TOI/G – 14:17 (8th on team – Hal Gill is the only one who averaged less)
SH TOI/G – 0:05 (7th - only Ellis (0:03) and Ekholm (who played 1 game) averaged less)
PP TOI/G – 1:09 (4th after Weber, Josi and Ellis (1:58 before being sent down))
Power Play Points -0

Blum may still find a permanent spot in Minnesota or with someone else. For him, I hope so. But I think it is unfair for him to say he wasn't given a chance in Nashville. He was given the chance to play in all situations. In my opinion, his performance allowed others to pass him on the depth chart - and his performance dictated that it was time to give others the opportunity to succeed that he had been given.

 

[predfan24]

Blum's excuses just give further validate the talk of his attitude problems. What a waste of talent.... Good riddance

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

Maybe he's just being realistic...or maybe he lacks ambition/work ethic, it's hard to draw motivation just reading text. That said, how hard is it to say "It's unfortunate that I was not able to be the player that the Predators organization wanted me to be, but I am looking forward to an opportunity to prove what I can bring to the Wild." You've covered your bases, and you don't look like an ass, it's not that hard.

 

[MuckOG]

If you think you're getting a reward from Blum... you're going to be disappointed.

Who knows, maybe a new voice telling him how terrible his work ethic is will do him some good, but I don't think he would know what a hard-working professional athlete looks like if one bit him on the nose.

What's the risk for the Wild, though?

Worse case scenario: He doesn't make team out of camp and gets put on waivers. If no one claims him, he makes $175K to spend the winter in Des Moines.

Best case scenario: With a fresh start, he pulls his head out of his behind and can earn a spot as an NHL defenseman earning only $650K.

 

[glenngineer]

It's funny how much praise Blum got from Crisp for staying in town during the offseason and lockout to work on his game and conditioning and doing what the coaches wanted him to be doing. So it didn't work out for him here. Is it all on Blum? Is it on the organization?

When Peterson was around we were able to develop defensemen left and right and once he left and Horachek came in, who did he develop? Josi was on his way regardless. The kid is a talent. Ellis and Blum have been disappointments so far. Is it them? Was it Horachek? Probably a bunch of both. We will see what Housley brings to the table and if we can become the defense machine again.

And this fan base is fickle beyond belief. One person says something about a player and it's taken as law. How many players have we wanted gone that turned out to be pretty good for us? Lots. How quickly does the fan base turn on a player, extremely fast.

Blum looked good at one point. What happened is anyone's guess. It's a shame because he looked like he was going to be another good one for us. Good luck in Minny. Hope he's able to get it back together.

 

[worstfaceoffmanever]

What's the risk for the Wild, though?

Worse case scenario: He doesn't make team out of camp and gets put on waivers. If no one claims him, he makes $175K to spend the winter in Des Moines.

Best case scenario: With a fresh start, he pulls his head out of his behind and can earn a spot as an NHL defenseman earning only $650K.

There's no risk, but there's also no reward, which was my main point.

 

[ThirdManIn]

Yes. It is my reading comprehension that needs work.

Oh wait, no. No that isn't it at all.

 

[ThirdManIn]

He is clearly complaining about having to face other teams top lines.

And anyone saying he was used in a strictly shutdown roll is clearly stretching things. He didn't play on the penalty kill and averaged 1:08 per game on the powerplay.

Also, he and Ellis pretty much split the season with each other playing with the same partners.

Ryan Ellis, averaged 14:20 per game at even strength, while Blum only averaged 13:02.

What Blum should have said was, I'm sorry I let Josi come in and be the things I was supposed to be, then I let Bartley take over my roster spot.

Also, Klein was the shutdown guy on that pairing. So Blum had next to no penalty kill time, was paired with a shutdown defender, and got PP time without producing.

He was set up to fail, obviously.

 

[Tapp]

MuckOG – despite my being irked at Blum’s statement, I certainly don’t think it is a bad risk for Minnesota. As a Preds fan, I’m used to our GM taking almost a yearly risk on a player or two (or three . . .) who hasn’t found his place elsewhere. And sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. For a team looking for defensive help or depth, I see Blum as being a good risk. If he finds the form he showed in 2010-2011, he’ll be a real nice get for y’all. In that first year he displayed the potential that made him a first round draft pick. Why it sort of went downhill from there – I don’t have a clue. But I hope he does some real self-assessment and doesn’t just blame it on not getting whatever narrow set of circumstances that he feels would perfectly fit his game handed to him night in and night out.

If he took a one year deal at $650,000 – which I assume was the best or one of the best deals he was offered (unless he has family up there – sorry couldn’t resist ), that's a cut from his NHL max with the Preds over the last three years, and something like $216,000 less than what the Preds would have had to offer to qualify him (unless the CBA changed the qualifying percentage).

Like I said in my first post, I do wish him well. If he truly has the talent to be the player longterm that we saw his first season and hoped to see continue to develop . . . I'd hate to see him, or any player, not reach his potential.

 

[MuckOG]

There's no risk, but there's also no reward, which was my main point.

That's yet to be determined.

 

[Detelethisaccount]

When Peterson was around we were able to develop defensemen left and right and once he left and Horachek came in, who did he develop? Josi was on his way regardless. The kid is a talent. Ellis and Blum have been disappointments so far. Is it them? Was it Horachek? Probably a bunch of both. We will see what Housley brings to the table and if we can become the defense machine again.

I had noticed this as well, and am really anxious to see how Ellis (provided he is still here) does under Housley. If he really improves and Blum is able to get it together in Minny, it certainly looks bad on Hoachek. When he was let go I thought he was pretty much just a scapegoat, but as I looked into more I noticed that most of our defensive prospects the last few years seem to almost "top out" at the AHL level and just couldn't stick in the NHL. Not sure how much blame Horachek gets for that, certainly not all, but it is interesting.