from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

“I think it’s fair to say that the area he needs to focus on is his defensive play – the physicality, just the overall intensity it takes to defend in the NHL,” Wings director of player personnel Shawn Horcoff said. “I think he is a young player that has survived on offense his whole life, and now when he is playing, he gets exposed a little bit on that side of the rink.

“Having said that, we have made it abundantly clear to him, and he’s aware of it and he’s working on it. And down in Grand Rapids, we had seen some growth in that area from him. So he’s working on it and he’s getting better.”...

Cholowski has the skill set to be a regular with the Wings. Sometimes it takes players a few years to figure it out (Anthony Mantha is a good example of that), but if a defenseman isn’t battling every night in the NHL, he is exposed quickly.

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