Is Dennis Cholowski a Potential Top Pairing Defenseman?

In my opinion Dennis Cholowski has a very high skill cap, and has the potential to turn into an elite defenseman in the NHL someday. I may be biased, as I am a Red Wings fan, but I truly do believe that because of his skating, and hockey IQ he could become something great for the Wings in the near future.

This season, admittedly, Cholowski's numbers were a little underwhelming, tallying 8 points in 36 games. Although his numbers were a little low, sometimes contributing to a team can mean more than just putting up points in the NHL. Every year I watch Dennis play he seems to gain a lot of confidence, and plays a very fearless game spinning away from forecheckers, and making breakout passes with ease with his amazing skating talent. When I watch him I see a very bright upside to his game. He is insanely talented with beautiful skating, passing, and has amazing vision on the ice. He rarely makes mistakes for a young player, (especially a defensemen) and I see him as a very proficient puck-moving defenseman in years to come.

Another thing Cholowski brings to the Red Wings is great defensive plays, making crucial plays in the defensive zone. He uses his skating to make great gaps on talented players. It is so important to have defense who are mobile in today's game. With all the talented forwards in the NHL bringing so much speed, and puck-handling it is easy to overwhelm defensemen. We see that almost every game with guys like Kronwall, and Ericsson. They were built for earlier parts of the NHL, and played their roles out, but unfortunately all good things must come to an end, and it hurts the team overall by having them trying to keep up in today's game. The game has changed so much over the years, and that's why it is so rare to see older guys be able to play at the high-speed NHLers play at today. I'm sure Yzerman sees this, and is plotting to make changes for next season decreasing older guys ice time, for a chance to see what the kids got.

Cholowski, as a young player, does have some consistency issues that need to be dealt with. This does not worry me though as this is very common for defensemen his age. It is incredibly difficult to come into this league, and be paired on a top pairing as a young kid. He went from playing in the WHL with prospects, to playing with the most talented players in the world. It is a gigantic leap, and a learning experience that will take time for Dennis to pan out completely before we can fully judge if he will become an NHLer. This is what makes it so exciting to watch all the prospects we have coming up on the Red Wings, and gives us a reason to watch, other than seeing how bad we can lose a single game. I'm a firm believer that the more ice time we give the kid, the more he will flourish, and become a stud someday.

All in all, Dennis Cholowski is a very exciting prospect for the Wings, and is definitely one to watch heading into the 2020-2021 season. With his unique defensive talents, and his offensive mindset, Dennis reminds me a lot of a P.K. Subban, or a Kris Letang. If we develop him right, he has the potential to be one of the most solid two-way defensemen in the league.