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Prince George signs Cholowski

August 14, 2017, 9:03 PM ET [6 Comments]
Bob Duff
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
It’s possible that the Detroit Red Wings’ last two first-round picks will be playing against each other this season. Monday, the Western Hockey League’s Prince George Cougars announced that defenseman Dennis Cholowski, Detroit’s top pick in the 2016 NHL entry draft, had signed a standard WHL player agreement for the upcoming season.

Center Michael Rasmussen, selected ninth by the Red Wings in the 2017 NHL entry draft, is expected to return to the WHL’s Tri-City Americans this season.

The Wings were quick to state that no decision has been made on Cholowski’s playing locale for the upcoming. Since he played NCAA hockey for St. Cloud State last season before signing with the Wings, unlike Rasmussen, Cholowski is not covered by the CHL-NHL agreement, which states that any CHL player drafted by an NHL must either play in the NHL or be returned to his CHL club.

The Wings now are presented with three options where Cholowski is concerned. They could keep him with the big club in Detroit, but because of his situation and the fact that he is signed to a pro contract, they also are left with the option of assigning him to their Grand Rapids Griffins farm club in the American Hockey League. They could even opt to allow Cholowski to begin the season in Grand Rapids and then send him to Prince George at any point during the season.

However, if the Wings do assign Cholowski to Prince George, once he’s there he would fall under the CHL-NHL agreement and be ineligible for recall until the end of his junior team’s season.

Whatever option they choose, Wings assistant GM Ryan Martin confirmed that the decision won’t be made until after training camp in the fall.

Although he hails from B.C., Cholowski’s home in Langley is over 500 miles south of Prince George. The Cougars, who selected Cholowski 200th overall in the 2013 WHL bantam draft, were certainly excited to get his name on a contract.

“Ever since we drafted Dennis back in 2013, we’ve kept a close eye on his development and have been in regular communication with his family, his agency and the Detroit Red Wings,” Harkins said in a statement released by the team. “To now have him signed and committed to the Prince George Cougars is very exciting for our franchise. “Dennis is a world-class player who we expect will log major minutes for us in all situations and our goal is to help further develop his game so that he’s ready to take the ice for the Detroit Red Wings as soon as possible.

“He is an extremely smart and well-spoken young man and he’s going to fit in very well with our current roster and our coaching staff.”

Tri-City and Prince George play each other three times during the 2017-18 WHL season - on Jan. 5-6 in Prince George and on Feb. 24 at Tri-City.

The Prince George defense includes four other NHL draftees - Brendan Guhl (51st overall, Buffalo, 2015), Sam Ruopp (129th overall, Columbus, 2015), Tate Olson (210th overall, Vancouver, 2015) and Josh Anderson (71st overall, Colorado, 2016).

Of that group, Guhle is the only one besides Cholowski to sign an NHL entry-level contract.

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