The following was posted by Pronman on The Athletic this morning.
Dennis Cholowski, D
Cholowski was Detroit’s best defenseman and stood out consistently due to his mobility and puck-moving ability. He impacted the transition game and ran the top power play unit well, showing more touch with the puck than I remember seeing in past viewings. I know some scouts who were impressed by him in the WHL, and if this is the player he is consistently in the AHL this season, I could see him panning out as a 4-5 defenseman in the NHL.
I was going to wait to post this thread until after the preseason, but this article changed my mind. I find it interesting how Cholowski remains off the radar nationally. I see a huge upside with this kid, minimum top 4 defenseman, possibly top two.
I don't pay much mind to national scouts, or internet scouts, or journalist scouts. They are aggregators, with no mind for the trees in the forest. I'd be less excited about Cholowski if he had a skill set that was easy to identify off hand/on a surface level.
Personally, I think Cholowski is our best prospect by far. So in the spirit of the title of your thread, knowing that I'll probably have to defend replies that aren't taking into the account the definition of ceiling...
Cholowski's
ceiling imo, is a perennial all-star, long term captain, HOF defensemen, that transforms our teams puck possession capabilities, and overall game management capabilities.
Of course it's incredibly unlikely that he hits that ceiling, only a handful of guys do every decade.
Don't get it twisted though, Cholowski is on a bit of a tear, as far as hitting landmarks on the way to his ceiling. His experience as a captain, his growth physically, and his assimilation into the top tier of the red wings prospect pool has been very encouraging. On draft day he was a nice project, with a slim chance at stardom. I don't think anyone really foresaw him knocking on the door this soon, or if they did, they'd say it was a definite sign of top pairing potential. I think the odds that he spends the majority of his career on a top pairing are nearing the 50% level already.
I could easily see him plateauing in the near future however, falling just short of an elite skill set, giving you a heady leader for your second pairing. But I could just as easily see him leveraging his IQ, puck management and skating skills into a top pairing possession general.
He's got a shot at Lidstrom/Murphy tier, or maybe he'll always be slightly overmatched by the elite, and sink into the Zubov/Niinamaa/Hamrlik territory(what a steep drop that is overall). Obviously it'd take a miracle of circumstance to actually hit Lidstrom levels of production, but I think Cholowski is a caliber closer to the Lidstroms and Murphy's than he is your average smooth and smart offensive d-man.
Not trying to troll with hyperbole, I've got the utmost respect for the actual accomplishments of past players, and I only mention them because it's fun. I think my claim regarding the pct chances of Cholowski being a no.1 or no.2 is by far the most dubious actual claim I've made in my post.
