NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Dennis Cholowski

Get to Know Dennis Cholowski

Date of Birth: February 15, 1998 (18)
Place of Birth: Langley, BC
Ht: 6’1” Wt: 177 lbs
Shoots: Left
Position: Defense
Team: Chilliwack Chiefs
Committed to St. Cloud State University

Statistics

What Scouts See

Bill Placzek, Draft Site

Four way skating defender who has seemed to go from a tiny midget defenseman into a six foot elite skating offenseman. Calm, confident and aware from his end all the way up to the attack zone. Plays on both the PK and the PP where his vision and elusiveness already make him a strong competitor. He will continue to work on strengthening his shot and overall physicality in the weight room. He started at 5’ 8” and projects to be 6’ 3”.

Future Considerations

Cholowski is an extremely raw young defenseman. He is very thin and undeveloped physically. He is an elegant skater who moves around the ice with great footwork and fluidity. While clearly lacking in strength, he still is able to zig-zag around the ice powerfully. His edge work is great, and once he builds more power he will be a dominant skater. He maintains good angles off the rush and has a great stick. He consistently breaks up plays with great stick positioning and makes it difficult for players to generate offense by constantly pestering puck carriers.

What BSN Avalanche sees

Dennis Cholowski is a joy to watch on his feet. He’s an extremely efficient and elusive four-way skater who has deceptive speed, closing gaps and blowing past opponents with seemingly effortless acceleration. Cholowski still has some work to do with defensive positioning on longer shifts in his own zone, but in transition his gap control is excellent and he controls opponents with his stick positioning, playing angles well and forcing them to the outside.

Cholowski is best in the neutral zone, anticipating play in both directions and using his speed to dominate the transition game. He knows when to use his feet and when to spring his forwards with a good pass, using his agility to quickly change directions and open up passing lanes.

Cholowski isn’t a physical player and he’s looked slight at times in his draft year, but it’s important to remember that he’s growing. With each new measurement he gets bigger, most recently jumping up by 12 pounds at his combine weigh in. There’s no question that Cholowski needs to get bigger and stronger, but there’s good reason to believe that he’ll continue to develop physically, especially as he heads to the harder, heavier NCAA next season.

NHL Potential

Dennis Cholowski has a lot of physical developing to do before he can play in the NHL, but if he can bulk up and improve his strength, he has all the makings of a top four two-way defenseman

Expected Draft Position

Opinions vary on Cholowski likely due to his undeveloped physical frame, but the Chilliwack defenseman will likely be picked sometime between the end of the first round and the middle of the second.

How Prospect Fits in Avalanche Organization

For the past several years the Avalanche have a acquired a glut of left shooting defensemen in hopes of finding long term defensive partners for Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie. However, now that Chris Bigras, Nikita Zadorov, and Duncan Siemens are all in full time professional hockey, the Avalanche should begin restocking their pipeline on the left side. Cholowski is more of a long term project, but with the current construction of the Avs’ pipeline they can afford to wait while he develops at St. Cloud State next year and beyond. As a high end skater and decision maker, Cholowski fits the Avs’ scouting profile to a T and would be extremely reminiscent of their Chris Bigras selection in 2013.