The emergence of Dennis Cholowski a major step in accelerating the rebuild

Not many saw this coming. Slotted behind the likes of Filip Hronek and Joe Hicketts on the depth chart entering the season, Dennis Cholowski has done nothing but prove his critics wrong. The expectation before the season was that he would spend some time in the AHL to adjust to the pro game. Now, he is making Red Wings hockey exciting in the midst of a rebuilding season.

His exceptional play has resulted in 8 points though 12 games, while doing so by averaging over 20 minutes of ice-time per game. The rate he is scoring at as a 20 year-old defensemen is comparable to some of the game’s top blue-liners today.

Now sample size needs to be considered here, but nevertheless, his first round pedigree makes this a little easier to put faith into.

He is making an early case for a Calder Trophy nomination, although, Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson may have something to say about that. With all the hall-of-famers that have donned the winged wheel, the last time a Red Wing was named rookie of the year was Roger Crozier in 1965.

Yeah, its been that long.

But the emergence of the smooth-skating Cholowski on the back-end means much more than some Calder votes. Ever since the retirement of Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit’s biggest hole has been the absence of a true top-pair defensemen. Should Cholowski develop into that role, the Wings have another building-block checked off the list.

How many teams can say they began a rebuild with a young number one center and number one D-man right out of the gates?

One of the best ways to accelerate a rebuild is to hit with your mid-to-late first round picks. Let the losing bring in the top-10 picks. If Cholowski remains the player that we’ve seen to start this season, Detroit won’t have to worry about drafting for need when they step to the podium.

Cholowski has proved many wrong. Unfairly mocked for taking his time to develop, while Jakub Chychrun, the other end of the Pavel Datsyuk trade, entered the NHL as an 18 year-old. Now, the Langly, B.C. native is making fans forget about the once highly touted Chychrun, all while making his own mark one offensive rush at a time.