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The Cholowski-Chychrun Debate

November 13, 2018, 7:39 PM ET [15 Comments]
Bob Duff
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Up until Tuesday, the only times their paths crossed was a brief encounter during the 2016 NHL Scouting Combine.

“I’ve never played against him, never knew him growing up or anything,” Detroit Red Wings defenseman Dennis Cholowski said of Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun.

“I was around him at the NHL combine and he’s a big guy. He was already filled out. He was pretty much a man already. He’s pretty good player for sure - big guy, skates well.”

Thanks to the machinations of the first round of the 2016 NHL entry draft, Cholowski and Chychrun are destined to forever be connected, their respective NHL careers intertwined.

The Wings owned the 16th pick of that draft, but looking to unload the dead salary cap money left when forward Pavel Datsyuk bolted home to Russia with a year left on his contract, Detroit dealt Datsyuk to the Coyotes for a swap of first-round picks, as well as Arizona’s 53rd overall selection, which Detroit used to grab defenseman Filip Hronek.

The Coyotes chose Chychrun at No. 16, while Detroit grabbed Cholowski at No. 20. When Chychrun began the 2016-17 NHL season with the Coyotes, while Cholowski headed off to play college hockey at St. Cloud State, a constituency of Wings fans were quick to opine that Detroit GM Ken Holland had been fleeced by John Chayka, his Arizona counterpart, feeling that he should have eaten the remainder of Datsyuk’s deal and selected the NHL-ready Chychrun.

Two years later, plenty of hockey people think Holland should demand a recount - including Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet.

“Cholowski can play well,” Tocchet said. “I actually like that kid.”

Cholowski is third among NHL rookie defensemen with eight points, and shares the rookie lead in power-play points with six.

“It was basically just to get bigger and stronger,” Cholowski said of the two years he spent making it to the NHL. “That was really the main thing. I went to college and then went to the WHL. Played a lot of hockey there, played a lot of games.

“That was the main thing – play a lot of hockey and get bigger and stronger. Try to work my way up as fast as I could.”

In Chychrun’s case, while he got to the NHL first, he also endured injury woes, including major knee surgery from which he made his return on Tuesday.

“For Chick, he hasn’t played a ton of games in the three years but it seems like he’s been around,” Tocchet said. “I judge him by his work ethic. When he had his (knee) surgery, he was in Philadelphia training with a guy the next day. So his whole summer was training.

Regardless, the Coyotes remain convinced they got the right guy - so much so that they inked Chychrun to a six-year. $27.6-million contract extension on Tuesday.

“Before he got hurt, I thought he was playing excellent hockey,” Tocchet said. “His mobility, that’s the sort of stuff I love about him. Today’s NHL defensemen, if you can skate, you can defend.”

The long-held theory is that it takes 200 games to get a true handle on the upside of an NHL defenseman.

“I actually haven’t heard that,” Cholowski said. “It’s the first I’ve heard of that. I don’t know if that’s a good theory or not.

“Everybody’s watching and everybody’s going to be judging you every game, so you just have to go out and do your best every time.”

Whatever the benchmark, it’s definitely not 5 games, the sum total of Cholowski’s NHL resume entering action Tuesday.

“I think it’s a good lesson in patience and evaluating guys,” ings coach Jeff Blashill said. “Chychrun, I think’s going to be a real good player in the league and I think Cholowski’s going to be a real good player in the league. But I think we’ve got to give it time in the evaluation process. Getting in the league doesn’t necessarily make you a great long-term player, having success early in your career doesn’t necessarily make you a great long-term player. Proving it over and over and over again for a number of years is what makes you a great long-term player.

“From where I sit, we’ve got a real good player in Cholowski, who I think has a chance to be a great, real top-four type NHL defenseman and I also say we’ve got a real good player in Filip Hronek, who isn’t here with us now but will be at some point over the course of this season or next. I think he’s a real good prospect too.”

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