Recalled/Assigned: Cholowski Recalled (Sent Back to GR 3/3)

[Kronwalled55]

Where Cholo was drafted doesn't have a damn thing to do with where he is at now as a prospect or player. The relevant question is how best to develop him as a player moving forward. There is little question in my mind that his skating, hands, vision and passing are worth the continued developmental investment.

His draft status doesn’t effect him as a player, but it does generally effect the amount of patience and second chances he gets. I have a tough time seeing this man ever breaking the NHL if he was a 4th round pick. Thats just my opinion though.

His skating is about the only thing that’s NHL level right now imo. His decision making with puck is brutal at times and that’s head scratching for a player that’s advertised as an offensive defenseman.

 

[Debrincat93]

He's a hardcore confidence player. When he started out last year, he was great in the first 6 weeks of the season.

Averaging over 18-20 mins a night, he had 10 pts in 20 games. Then once he clearly got into trouble and the dog house, he hasnt recovered.

He's a prime example of someone who could use a new head coach to start fresh with. However, he's also not lighting up the AHL so this entire argument by me might be highly optimistic and not realistic.

 

[Shaman464]

There is no question that Dennis Cholowski is one of the six best defensemen in the organization notwithstanding his issues with: (i) quickly processing defensive coverage, and (ii) the speed and commitment with which he engages defensively and retrives pucks. He is without question the best pure puck mover of our defensive group and it really isn't close. Defensive stops without proper puck movement are pretty worthless. For a team that struggles to move the puck out of the defensive zone and with neutral zone regroups, there is a big temptation to keep him with the big club. The brass needs, however, to resist that temptation and keep him in GR at this point for the rest of the season (and early next if necessary) as a message that his lack of defensive-zone development in unacceptable and that the organization is sincere with their developmental demands. Just because we are awful does not mean he should inherit a spot on the big club's roster with no change to his game. Development needs to be a demand, not an option.

Hronek is a much better mover. Its not even close.

 

[Run the Jewels]

He is still just 22 but honestly I have been expecting to hear better things about him at this point especially after how many people pumped his tires after the first year or two. I like to give defenseman until about 24 year old before you can get a firm idea of what they bring in the NHL so he still has a window but its closing and doesn't have a great trend.

His ceiling almost feels like salvageable roster player possible lower end PP QB at this point. Am I off?

I still wish they would promote these guys. I would rather watch these guys flop and know what we are in for than keep trying to squeeze the last ounce of development they can get in the AHL when they are already roaring into their 20's

It would make the team more fun to watch because at least we can evaluate where our real holes are going to be instead of wondering who is going to be available to help this core.

I was really skeptical about his development when he abruptly left college to turn pro. Something felt very strange about how that went down. As far as promoting guys they have given him a shot but it's clear he's not an NHL caliber player at this point. Sure Hronek has his bad games but he's clearly a quality NHL d-man on a crap roster. Cholo can't really crack this awful roster. That doesn't bode well for his future.

 

[Run the Jewels]

I really didn't think he was that hot in the pre-season of his rookie year when he "earned" the spot on the team.
For whatever reason, Holland and co decided Rasmussen and Cholo needed to start on the NHL club.
Early on that rookie year, Cholo was blowing away any expectations I had and looked so dangerous running the point on the PP.
But after about 10-20 games, it went downhill fast and he's just looked overmatched ever since.

Rasmussen would have to go down to the WHL or whatever. It was NHL or go back to juniors. At least he's where he belongs now in Grand Rapids.

 

[Gniwder]

He's a hardcore confidence player. When he started out last year, he was great in the first 6 weeks of the season.

Averaging over 18-20 mins a night, he had 10 pts in 20 games. Then once he clearly got into trouble and the dog house, he hasnt recovered.

He's a prime example of someone who could use a new head coach to start fresh with. However, he's also not lighting up the AHL so this entire argument by me might be highly optimistic and not realistic.

In this particular case, I don't think it's coaching at all, I think the league figured him out. Every forward in the league knows they can either attack Cholo with speed or just out muscle him to the goal, and that's what they've been doing. I've seen that sort of thing with rookie defensemen before.

Cholo just needs to stay in GR until he's ready. Blash needs to stop calling him up, which means this team needs to pick up a stop gap LD this offseason. This whole up/down thing is just going to ruin his confidence. I'd be OK with Lashoff being the callup next season, it's a role that he's accustomed to.