Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen praises Red Wings defenseman Dennis Cholowski in an article discussing 9 NHL rookie standouts:
Dennis Cholowski, DET: With an average of 22:10 per game, Cholowski leads all rookies in average ice time. The 20th-overall pick from 2016 racked up a point per game in the pre-season and an injury to Mike Green opened up a spot for some youngster to take advantage — and Cholowski hasn’t missed.
He never made any Canadian WJC squads in junior even after moving from the NCAA to the WHL last season and becoming a major contributor. A great skater with a nose for offence, the 6-foot Cholowski is the kind of defenceman who thrives in today’s NHL and he leads all Detroit defencemen in power-play ice time. When Mike Green eventually returns some of that will be shaved off, but if Cholowski keeps up this level of play, he’ll be hard to turn away from.
Boylen continues, and I’ve been impressed with Libor Sulak, Filip Hronek, Christoffer Ehn, Joe Hicketts and Michael Rasmussen as well, but I’m biased!
