"He's exceeded our expectations in almost every way," Red Wings assistant general manager Ryan Martin said. "His year at St. Cloud State was average, and I'm sure he'd be the first to admit that."
Cholowski had 12 points (one goal, 11 assists) and a minus-9 rating in 36 NCAA games. At Prince George of the Western Hockey League the following season, he had 39 points (13 goals, 26 assists) and a plus-9 rating in 37 games before being traded to Portland on Jan. 10.
"I opted for the WHL because I wanted to be put in all situations like the power play, penalty kill," Cholowski said. "I played a lot of minutes and really that was the main thought process when I talked to Detroit about making the move (to Prince George)."
Cholowski ranks third among Red Wings defensemen in average ice time on the power play (2:29) and leads Detroit with six power-play points (one goal, five assists).
In Portland, Cholowski had 27 points (one goal, 26 assists) and a plus-20 rating in 32 games, and seven points (five goals, two assists) in 12 WHL playoff games.
"There were pros and cons to leaving college, but Dennis felt, for his hockey development, it would put him in the best position for when he commenced his pro career," Martin said. "For the better part of two summers he also committed his own time to live in Detroit, train here and put on close to 20 pounds of muscle, and I think that helped tremendously.
"Our expectation coming into this training camp was that he certainly would be competing for a job."
Cholowski was 170 pounds when the Red Wings selected him in the first round (No. 20) of the 2016 NHL Draft. He signed an entry-level contract April 5, 2017.
"I think he has tremendous upside," Martin said. "His assets are really valuable at the NHL level, like skating, hockey sense and ability to transport the puck. He seems to have a good feel to when to skate and when to just move it up the ice. Those are tough things to teach. I just think he needs to become more assertive in his own end and needs to continue to build his body strength. That confidence to play in his own end will continue to grow and develop."