The Predators are banking that defenseman Jonathon Blum will have a bounce-back year, according to The Nashville Tennessean.
They came to terms with the 23-year-old former first-round pick on a one-year, two-way contract on Thursday. It’s worth $650,000 at the NHL level and $105,000 at the AHL level with a guarantee of $300,000 for 2012-13.
Blum was the last of Nashville’s restricted free agents to be signed. He spent 33 games with the Predators last season and was a minus-14 before being sent to the American Hockey League affiliate in Milwaukee.

He fell out of favor with the Predators after a perceived lack of conditioning and large drop in production. He was effectively replaced in the lineup after defensemen Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis made their NHL debuts in November and December, respectively.

Blum was Nashville’s first-round pick in 2007. He was an integral part of the playoff run two seasons ago, taking part in all 12 postseason games as a second-pairing defenseman.