Leeds Knights and Lewis Baldwin in agreement on where he is best deployed for NIHL National 2023-24 season

Having spent the vast majority of his career playing in defence - from his time as a junior at Bradford Bulldogs through to joining Leeds Chiefs in 2019 - it was a bold move by head coach Ryan Aldridge ahead of his first full season in charge at Elland Road Ice Arena, but one the player was fully on board with.

Fast forward 12 months and Baldwin will return for a third season with the team skating around on more familiar ice.

It wasn’t that the experiment of trying Baldwin up front failed in any way, just that circumstances - largely injuries to other key D-men - dictated he spent most of last season patrolling the blue line anyway.

There were games at the start of the season where the 23-year-old played as a forward but, after flirting with a different approach, both Baldwin and Aldridge have settled on the Billingham-born player returning to his more natural position for 2023-24.

“I’m definitely coming back as a D-man,” Baldwin told the Evening Post. “It’s more comfortable for me back there, I’ve played there all my life and I know what I’m doing.

“Playing forward is a bit like a different world compared to being on D, if I’m honest.

“Now, I can just play D but still go forward, jump up into the play as and when needed, so you’ve still got both options - I’m just more comfortable contributing offensively that way.”

Aldridge knows Baldwin packs a welcome offensive punch no matter he plays on the ice, the athletic right-hander contributing 10 goals and 35 assists across his first two seasons with the Knights.

Having Baldwin back among his D-core, offers him the best of both worlds.

“He can play both, but is he a forward or is a D-man? He’s a D-man,” said Aldridge. “He wanted to try it as a forward, we wanted him to try it, but when we had to put him back in D anyway last season, it was pretty obvious that he had to be a D-man on our team. He’s happy with that, he wants to be that.

“He’s a great lad, he skates like the wind, has a rocket of a shot, he’s good defensively and he’s big in the room for us, too, he‘s very close to all the boys. He’s a big part of our team and our future.”