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Dennis Cholowski

#44 · Defence · New York Rangers

Born Feb 15, 1998 in Langley, British Columbia, CAN (age 28) · 6'2", 214 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 20th overall in 2016 by DET (round 1)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2020-21. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Christian Wolanin LAK · 3 P in 18 GP Dan Renouf COL · 3 P in 18 GP Alex Biega DET · 3 P in 13 GP Alexandre Carrier NSH · 3 P in 19 GP Greg Pateryn SJS · 3 P in 13 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

0510152018-19: 16 points1618-192019-20: 8 points819-202020-21: 3 points320-212021-22: 3 points321-222022-23: 0 points022-232024-25: 10 points1024-252025-26: 2 points225-26

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2018-19 DET 52 7 9 16 -20 16 71 18 0.31 $894K
2019-20 DET 36 2 6 8 -26 6 51 15 0.22 $894K
2020-21 DET 16 1 2 3 -1 4 10 5 0.19 $894K
2021-22 WSH 7 0 1 1 -4 2 3 3 0.14 $900K
2021-22 SEA 4 0 2 2 1 0 8 2 0.50
2022-23 NYI 2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0.00 $763K
2024-25 NYI 33 3 7 10 1 10 26 5 0.30 $775K
2024-25 NJD 6 0 0 0 -4 0 4 0 0.00
2025-26 NJD 17 0 2 2 -6 2 12 3 0.12 $775K
7 seasons Career 173 13 29 42 -60 40 185 51 0.24

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2024-25 NJD 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0.00
1 season Playoffs 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0.00

2020-21 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
16 1 2 3 -1 4 10 5 0.19 10.0 15:54

Contract

$894KCap hitends in 2021, then RFA
$298KCap dollars per point3 points in 16 games

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. He rated at or below a spare-part player, so there is no cost per goal to show.

The contract

Signed by the Detroit Red Wings on Apr 5, 2017, as an entry-level contract: 3 years and $2.775M, beginning in 2018-19. It runs through 2020-21, so this is its last season, after which he is a restricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2018-19 $894K $833K $93K $925K
2019-20 $894K $833K $93K $925K
2020-21 $894K $833K $0 $833K

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jul 2, 2026 New York Rangers New contract (two-way) 2026-27 to 2027-28 2 $1.75M $875K
2025-26 to 2025-26 $775K
Jul 25, 2024 New York Islanders New contract (two-way) 2024-25 to 2024-25 1 $775K $775K
Aug 23, 2022 New York Islanders New contract 2022-23 to 2023-24 2 $1.525M $763K
Sep 7, 2021 Seattle Kraken New contract 2021-22 to 2021-22 1 $900K $900K
Apr 5, 2017 Detroit Red Wings Entry-level 2018-19 to 2020-21 signed for 2017-18, slid 3 $2.775M $894K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2020-21 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2020-21 analytics

Rating

-1.0Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
-0.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-1.9Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence0.0Even-strength defence-1.1Power play-0.4Penalty kill0.0Penalties-0.3

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. He has played fewer than 20 games, too few to be ranked. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-2-1012018-192019-202020-212021-222022-232024-252025-26Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

42.6Corsi for %174 attempts for, 234 against
+0.3CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
39.4Expected goals for %7.4 expected for, 11.3 against
-3.7xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
42.2Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
50.0Goals for %6 for, 6 against
101.2PDO5.8% shooting + 95.4% saves
21Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Dennis Cholowski · Filip Hronek16168:3843.838.93-5
Dennis Cholowski · Troy Stecher913:5351.757.01-0
Jon Merrill · Dennis Cholowski26:4211.111.80-0
Dennis Cholowski · Gustav Lindstrom46:2045.547.11-1

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

1Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.4Expected goalsfrom 15 unblocked attempts
+0.6Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.11 expected goals per 60 minutes12th
Shot quality 3.0% chance per attempt47th
Finishing +0.6 goals above expected70thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 218 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.20.40.60.81Goals 1Expected 0.4

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
May 8, 2021 @ CBJ L 4-5 (OT) 0 2 2 0 0 2 0 14:24
May 7, 2021 @ CBJ W 5-2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 17:42
May 2, 2021 vs TBL L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 17:32
May 1, 2021 vs TBL W 1-0 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 19:08
Apr 29, 2021 @ CAR L 1-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 13:44
Apr 27, 2021 @ CBJ L 0-1 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 19:46
Apr 24, 2021 vs DAL L 1-2 (OT) 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 15:17
Apr 22, 2021 vs DAL W 7-3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 16:07
Apr 20, 2021 @ DAL L 2-5 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 16:37
Apr 19, 2021 @ DAL L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 16:56
Apr 17, 2021 vs CHI L 0-4 0 0 0 -1 0 2 0 21:19
Apr 15, 2021 vs CHI W 4-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 14:58
Apr 12, 2021 @ CAR W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11:55
Apr 10, 2021 @ CAR W 5-4 (SO) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 10:04
Mar 23, 2021 @ NSH L 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16:25
Mar 20, 2021 vs DAL L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 12:27