Detroit Red Wings' Michael Rasmussen, Dennis Cholowski earn rave reviews

Two of the top prospects in the Detroit Red Wings organization are having standout springs.

Michael Rasmussen is looking better than ever, and has gained an edge that should help him as he tries to make the Wings come autumn. The 2017 first-round pick helped his Tri-City Americans advance to round two of the Western Hockey League playoffs with a 5-goal, 12 point performance in a four-game series against Kelowna in round one.

Wings director of player development Shawn Horcoff was on hand to observe the last two games of the series, and came away wowed.

“He looks fantastic,” Horcoff told the Free Press. “It’s the best I’ve ever seen him play. He showed more vision than in the past. He won loose puck battles and from there he was making some great plays. The biggest thing is he really has raised his intensity. He is way more physical, which is buying him more space.

“He was a presence on the ice.”

Rasmussen played part of the series on the wing next to Morgan Geekie. Rasmussen mostly plays center, but the Americans had him with centerman Geekie because of their great chemistry.

Rasmussen excelling as a wing will help him come training camp, when he is expected to make a push to show he belongs in Detroit.

“It is going to give him another dimension,” Horcoff said. “Playing center isn’t easy for a young guy, there’s a lot of detail that go into it. Him being able to play the wing is going to give (coach) Jeff Blashill more ability to play him. Maybe he slides over to the wing like Dylan Larkin.

“It’s easier for a young player to come in at winger than center, and that he plays wing and is having success while doing it, it gives us a lot to look forward to.”

Rasmussen turns 19 on April 17. Under NHL and Canadian Hockey League rules, he isn’t eligible to play next season in the AHL, so either it’s Detroit or back to juniors.

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Horcoff knows where Rasmussen stands on that.

“I know he thinks he wants to be in Detroit,” Horcoff said. “I talked to him numerous times. He knows he is going to need big summer, and he has a great attitude about that. He wants to know exactly what he has to do to push for a spot. He has to grow stronger — he’s 6-foot-6, around 220 pounds, but it’s a kid’s 220. He needs to get stronger and faster. He has a great stride for a big guy, but he needs to get more power in his legs.

“At this point, in juniors, he has so much size and weight, he is stronger than everybody else. In the NHL, he’d be in a league where everybody else is strong, so there will be some growing pains. But he has great hands, a great shot, and it’s just a matter of putting it all together.”

Horcoff also spent time last week watching defense prospect Dennis Cholowski (20th overall, 2016) play for the Portland Winterhawks in their first-round series against Spokane (if Tri-City and Portland keep winning, Rasmussen and Cholowski would face one another in a conference final). Cholowski had three goals through the first three games.

“He looked terrific,” Horcoff said. “He got two goals the first game I saw. First one was off the rush, he was faster than the defender and broke through their D for a backdoor tap-in. Second one he faked a shot and went behind the net to stuff the puck.

“The biggest thing for him is he’s much more responsible defensively. That’s what it will come down to — how quickly can he gain the trust of the coach to be put other there against the other team’s best players? His skating and his offense come naturally for him, but can he gain Jeff Blashill’s trust in order to play?

“We drafted him for his skating and passing, but you have to be able to defend if you want to be an impact player. He has worked hard at it and he’s made good strides.”

Cholowski, who turned 20 in February, will either be in Grand Rapids or Detroit next season. He wrapped up his final year of juniors (split between Prince George and Portland) with 14 goals and 66 points in 69 games.

“He’s got great poise with the puck,” Horcoff said. “He makes a great first pass, really snaps it well. He’s got deception — he gets the puck to his forwards with time and space. He’s good at looking at one winger and passing it to the other. That’s a valuable asset.

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.