Houston Aeros Sign Corbin Baldwin, According To Report

One of the best parts of prospect development camp, besides being able to watch the top prospects in one place, is seeing which unsigned prospect makes enough of an impression to get signed. From current Aero Colton Jobke to players like Matt Read and J.T. Brown who signed elsewhere and are NHL regulars, it usually seems that one or two guys make enough of an impression to get a contract.

This year it's Corbin Baldwin.

According to Gregg Drinnan and multiple reports, the Aeros have signed Baldwin to a one-year AHL deal, which is important to note because an AHL contract does not count towards Minnesota's 50 contract limit.

The 21 year-old defenseman scored 33 points (6G-27A) in 69 games last year for the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL and served as the team's captain one of many assistant captains. Throughout the last four seasons he was also teammates with current Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon. With the deal, he is turning down an opportunity to play at the University of Manibota of the CIS.

From Baldwin's play at prospect development camp, Corbin is big guy (6'5", 215 lbs) who uses his size well. At last month's camp he was playing on a pairing with 2012 5th round pick Daniel Gunnarsson, who at 6'4" was somehow the smaller guy, and while Baldwin didn't stand out, he wasn't a liability either. Having him down in Houston adds size to a blue line that already has 6'6", 225 lb Kyle Medvec.

Baldwin can also fight, as Josh Caron, another player the Wild have signed to a tryout, can attest.