Red Wings Grades: The Young Defensemen
By Alex Faber
Dennis Cholowski
2021 Statline
Games Played: 16
Goals: 1
Assists: 3
+-: -1
Preseason Projection
Top Grand Rapids defenseman, borderline NHLer
2021 Season in a Nutshell
Dennis Cholowski’s past few years have been a rollercoaster with the Red Wings. He’s been back and forth between the Wings and the Griffins. He’s come close to cracking the roster a few times, but his defensive lapses keep reappearing. This year was much of the same. Cholowski spent more than half the season in Grand Rapids, billed as their best “offensive defenseman” and acting as the quarterback of the powerplay, scoring three goals and notching seven assists during that time.
After the trade deadline, Cholowski finally got the call to Detroit. In 13 games, Cholowski managed to nab a goal and three assists. But he stilled looked a bit uncomfortable on the ice at times, seemingly afraid to try what worked in Grand Rapids. There were also a few of those defensive lapses the organization tried to work out of him with the Griffins – although they were significantly rarer than they had been in the past.
They Said It
"“The first thing (you notice) is the strength and the transformation of his body type by the hard work in the gym. You see it carry over on the ice into a more explosive first step. He seems to be harder to push around, in front of the net and in battles. He’s strong on his stick. He’s a hard-working guy and he’s done a lot to improve his game.”"
-Captain Dylan Larkin via the Detroit News
Final Grade
DENNIS CHOLOWSKI. C. Cholowski’s 2020-21 season is a tough one to grade. He’ll tell you himself how disappointed he was to spend yet another season in the minors. In Grand Rapids he looked fantastic, and in Detroit he showed flashes of what kind of defenseman he can be. But Cholowski has yet to look truly comfortable at the NHL level. If he isn’t picked up by the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft, Cholowski is going to have to show some <a rel=. Defenseman. Detroit Red Wings