Wild ride for Wild’s Chisholm

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This article was published 20/02/2024 (595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The first goal of his NHL career in his Minnesota debut. A pond-hockey special that ends with a 10-7 victory in his second game. Then a return to the city that was his hockey home for four years to face plenty of old friends in game three.

“A crazy start to the Wild journey,” Declan Chisholm said with a laugh Tuesday afternoon, a few hours before he hit the ice to play the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre.

The same Winnipeg Jets, we remind you, which placed the 24-year-old Ontario product they drafted (in 2018) and developed on waivers last month due to a roster crunch, then watched their closest Central Division rival scoop him up before he could make it back to the Manitoba Moose where he’d played 146 games over his career.

So what’s it like to now be on the other side of one of the fiercest rivalries in the NHL?

“It’s nice to just be in the rivalry now,” said Chisholm, who was a healthy scratch when the two teams last faced each other in a heated back-to-back games on Dec. 30 and 31.

“I’m just excited to play. Obviously they have a really good team over there. I’m excited to prove myself and help the Wild win.”

Opportunity came knocking for Chisholm once Wild captain Jared Spurgeon went down with a season-ending injury and there was an immediate hole to fill on the blue-line. That coincided with the Jets — who only got him into two games this year and four in his career — needing to clear roster space for the return of a few injured skaters.

“I couldn’t be any more excited because a team wanted me to play,” said Chisholm. “They saw something in me that maybe the Jets didn’t see in me. Now they’re giving me an opportunity here that I want to take advantage of.”

Still, Chisholm admits there were mixed emotions at the development.

“It was almost like disappointing that they put me on waivers, because I knew and my agent knew that I was mostly likely going to get claimed, considering the conversations we had at the start of the year,” he said.

“Patience was huge for me here. Just kind of staying with it every day and not getting down on myself. Because I had a lot of success with the Moose, and the few games I did play with (the Jets) I thought I played really well. Obviously I got drafted here and I wanted to play so bad for the Jets.”

Waiting to see who, if anyone, would put in a claim was “stressful.” Chisholm was in Miami with his fiancée at the time, enjoying the NHL player break ahead of the all-star break.

“I was kind of sitting at the beach. I remember, me and my fiancée had sat down at lunch and it was like the hour before. We were just counting down the minutes. It was like the longest hour ever,” he said.

Jets coach Rick Bowness said it was unfortunate Chisholm was the victim of a numbers game given the tools he brings.

“He’s a puck-moving defenceman. Gets back and gets the puck moving. He’s good at it. He’s got good skills, good puck skills, good vision,” said Bowness. “That’s why they wanted him and that’s what we liked about him.”

Now, Chisholm is just trying to get settled in his new surroundings. He had to wait a bit to get into game action with the Wild as his work visa was processed. Once he did, he wasted no time making an impact, scoring the first goal of his career (in his fifth career NHL game) in a 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

“It was just the happiest moment I ever had in hockey,” said Chisholm.

“A lot of emotions. It sucks we didn’t get the win and all that. But yeah, just such a cool moment and something you’ll remember for the rest of your life. Everyone dreams of that as a kid. You just want to score a goal in the NHL. You just want to play in the NHL. That just kind of solidifies everything for me. Now I can just play and worry about the other things.”

Among Chisholm’s early duties with the Wild is some power-play time.

“It’s nice to get that opportunity for sure. Playing with high-skilled players out there. I love playing on the power play. That’s one of my strengths. So I want to prove that to them. I’m going to use that opportunity to my advantage,” he said.

“The feedback I’ve been getting is just use my skating. Don’t be afraid to make plays. They want to see what they have right now. I think they’re still kind of testing the waters with me. And I’m still earning their trust. I think right now it’s just play my game and prove myself.”

His new coach, John Hynes, has liked what he’s seen so far.

“He’s a really good kid. When he came in, he hadn’t played for a while, so we talked about getting some practices in, watching video, we had him around the team. He’s very receptive to coaching,” said the Wild bench boss.

“It looks like he did a really good job of trying to matriculate into the team, to understand how we do things, understand how we want to be able to play. He’s come out and played two solid games. What stands out for me is he’s got some good size, he’s very mobile. He’s a good-skating defenceman, he moves the puck well, he’s got some poise under pressure and it looks like he’s got some strong power play elements to him too.”

Chisholm got to catch up with some former Manitoba Moose teammates in Winnipeg on Monday night, a few hours after the bizarre 10-7 win over the Vancouver Canucks in St. Paul. The Jets were still making their way back from Calgary, where they lost 6-3 that afternoon,

“I just saw a few of the Moose guys, because Jets guys were getting back late. It was nice to see those guys. I’ll go say ‘Hi’ after the game,” Chisholm said, before a big smile washed over his face.

“We’ll see how the game goes. Maybe I won’t say ‘Hi.’”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg