After trading away Simon Nemec earlier this week, the Devils have gone and found someone to backfill their depth. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve acquired defenseman Declan Chisholm from the Capitals in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick.
The 26-year-old has seemingly been on shaky footing lineup-wise for a while. Originally drafted in the fifth round by Winnipeg back in 2018, he saw very limited playing time with them and eventually lost his roster spot in 2024, being claimed by Minnesota in late January despite him being a healthy scratch for almost every game. Chisholm played somewhat regularly in the second half of that season, getting into 29 games and did well enough for the Wild to give him a one-year, $1MM contract that offseason.
With that vote of confidence, Chisholm then turned in his best season in 2024-25, suiting up in a career-best 66 games where he had a dozen points and averaged a respectable 17 minutes a night. Ultimately, he did well enough that Minnesota then had to trade him as they didn’t want to go to salary arbitration with him last summer. The Capitals swooped in, picking him up on the second day of the draft along with a sixth-round pick for a fourth-round selection, one they’ve ultimately recouped with this swap. They then quickly signed him to a two-year, $3.2MM contract.
Unfortunately for Chisholm, this past season saw him back in an all-too-familiar role, one where he sat out more regularly than he played. Overall, he suited up in just 26 games for the Capitals and played rather sparingly, averaging under 14 minutes a night of ice time while recording seven points. Between his three different organizations so far, Chisholm has six goals and 22 helpers in 125 career NHL appearances.
With this swap, the Devils now have the most expensive back end in the NHL, per PuckPedia, checking in at $36.5MM. It’s a fairly deep group when everyone is healthy and as a result, it wouldn’t be overly shocking if Chisholm is back in the reserve or seventh defender role when the regular season gets underway in the fall. Clearly, New Jersey feels he’s a better option than some of the depth free agents that might be available, making them willing to flip a draft pick to secure him. As for the Capitals, they basically get back what they gave up to get him and give themselves a bit more financial flexibility after making a pair of big additions in Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch in recent days.
