Behind Declan Chisholm's unlikely rise to Wild's top 4: 'All he needed was a chance'

ST.

PAUL, Minn.

Declan Chisholms hockey career nearly ended before it really began.

It started innocently.

Chisholm, 5 years old at the time, was crawling around and playing with two of his cousins in his familys home in Bowmanville, Ontario.

But Chisholm fell on his brothers hockey bag and banged his right knee, getting a cut.

His aunt was babysitting, and after noticing swelling, she took him to the local hospital.

The pain wouldnt go away.

Advertisement Before long, Chisholms mother, Erin Fagan, was on a plane back from a work trip to Atlanta and Declan was sent via ambulance to a larger pediatric hospital, SickKids, in Toronto.

They found that Chisholm had a staph infection, a serious one.

A weeks stay there on antibiotics included a procedure to make sure it hadnt started eating away at his bones and ligaments.

He could have lost his leg, Fagan said.

It was terrible.

I had no idea what was going on, said Chisholm.

Scary.

Chisholm, now 24, didnt know if hed be able to walk, much less skate.

His lengthy recovery included six months using a walker.

And while he started playing hockey later than most Canadian-born kids, it didnt deter him from making the NHL .

He always believed, Fagan said.

Chisholm believed even when he fell to the fifth round in the 2018 NHL Draft, picked by the Winnipeg Jets .

He didnt lose hope when he barely cracked the Jets lineup over his first couple of seasons in the NHL, ending up a healthy scratch in his final 23 games there.

The Wild provided a lifeline in claiming him off waivers in late January.

Now, one year later, Chisholm is playing a top-four role alongside captain Jared Spurgeon , filling in admirably with the long-term injury to Jake Middleton .

Thats why waivers are in place, for guys like me, Chisholm said.

So teams can take a chance on guys and see if they pan out.

Ive got to run away with this right now and make the most of it.

Chisholms first love, sports-wise, was soccer.

Then hockey.

But he also played hurling on the side with his grandfather, Paddy Fagan, who made his name in the sport in Ireland before moving to Canada.

Its a physical sport, a cross between field hockey and lacrosse, Chisholm explains.

As hed find out in matchups with his brothers, cousins and grandpa.

I bet you my grandpa would be wiping the floor with us if he was going hard, Chisholm said.

You should see his shins, the slashes he took.

His shins were just like bumps all the way down.

It was nuts.

The smooth-skating, puck-moving defenseman you see today with the Wild was much more awkward early on.

As much as his family felt hed be good in sports after watching him barrel through everyone in the house soccer league, hockey wasnt an instant hit.

He could only skate in a straight line, his mother said.

He barely could stop on his right foot, couldnt stop on his left for tryouts.

And I was like, Oh.

It was nerve-wracking.

Advertisement I played one year of house league and somehow made my AAA team, Chisholm said.

I dont know how I did it.

I couldnt even stop left.

The coach said I had a lot of heart.

Erin Fagan remembered her sons first year playing at age seven.

Chisholm was playing special teams and was pulled out of the game.

He started crying.

Fagan got the coach to come talk to him.

You have to prove to the coach that you deserve to be out there,' his mother told him.

You just have to keep working hard.

And from that day on, when I saw the shift in him, he kept getting better and better.

The next year, he became captain.

Chisholm grew up idolizing Joe Sakic.

As a defenseman, he looked up to Victor Hedman and Erik Karlsson , loving how they played the game with pace and creativity.

I really liked that and wanted that to be my game, he said.

The first NHL game Chisholm attended was a Leafs one.

He joked he changed his favorite teams like he did his underwear, but once he went to the game, he got bedsheets and a bunch of little trophies and bobbleheads for his room.

The most memorable game he saw live was a Leafs playoff game in Tampa.

The coolest experience I ever had as a kid, he said.

The atmosphere.

Everything.

He wanted to be there one day.

Chisholm was drafted 150th by Winnipeg in 2018.

A few injuries during the year led him to drop.

We knew there was a possibility he wouldnt even be drafted because, Erin Fagan said.

But we really believed in him and he believed in his own ability.

And were thankful Winnipeg took a chance on him.

All he needed was a chance.

The issue with Chisholm in Winnipeg wasnt his talent.

He was very skilled, great feet, does a great job on the power play, said Mark Morrison, Chisholms coach for three seasons with the AHLs Manitoba Moose.

He competes hard.

I liked a lot of things about him.

Great teammate, great personality.

Advertisement Chisholm was trusted to play big minutes in all situations for the Moose.

His confidence came from running the power play, from moving the puck.

But Morrison saw growth in the other side of the game.

It was all over the ice, Morrison said.

He defended better and better as it wore on.

He excelled in the offensive side of the game, like carrying the puck out of the D zone, carrying the puck through the neutral zone, making a great first pass, the transition game.

But there was not much room on the Jets blue line, which included Nate Schmidt , Josh Morrissey , Neal Pionk , Brenden Dillon and Dylan Samberg .

It definitely sucks not playing, Chisholm said.

When you practice for that long, its tough on your mind, your motivation.

Things were going well in the AHL, and getting a chance to make the team out of camp was the original goal after I got drafted.

That was the dream come true.

But they had their D set.

Thats when a potentially career-changing call came during the 2024 AHL All-Star break.

Chisholm planned on going on vacation to Miami with his fiancee, Kate.

Just before he left, he got notified hed be going on waivers.

Chisholm called his agent, Richard Evans.

What do I do? Do I stay? No, the agent said.

Just go on vacation and well figure it out.

It ended up not being a relaxing trip to South Beach.

There are transactions every day in pro sports announcements of who is going on waivers, who is claimed or not.

But its real people, real lives, that are affected.

We were counting down the hours, Chisholm said.

I had texts from family and friends asking me whats going on.

I had no clue.

Chisholms aunts were researching the teams and who might pick him.

Oh my gosh, it was hilarious, Erin Fagan said.

You should have heard us all.

I had one sister, Andrea, breaking the news to us before Declan was even breaking the news.

A minute after the waiver deadline ended, Chisholm got the call from the Jets that he was headed to Minnesota.

Our latest "Fellowship of the Rink" podcast: We talk HS state tourney, #mnwild trade deadline, Khusnutdinov, Fleury Guest Declan Chisholm.

Learn all about new defenseman.

Stick taps to partners @BarrelTheory + @wagglegolf https://t.co/VYaEEQNx25 Apple: https://t.co/AxzjVzuv5j pic.twitter.com/MnfJ2LrRJ8 Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) March 13, 2024 Wild pro scout David MacLean pushed for Chisholm.

And the whole staff was on board, president and GM Bill Guerin said.

Me and my fiancee celebrated, Chisholm said.

And let everyone else know.

I couldnt complain.

Chisholm and Kate have known each other since they were 12, so their wedding next summer has been a long time coming.

His mother found out they were dating at age 13 when Chisholm told her on the way back from playing hockey in Sweden that he needed to pick up his girlfriend a gift (perfume from the airport).

Advertisement Kate has been with him every step of the way, including during the pandemic in Manitoba, when they adopted their dog, Biggie, an 80-pound shepherd/lab mix.

They were living at the Residence Inn at the time.

The first month or two was a living hell, Chisholm quipped.

He was ripping apart the place, peeing everywhere.

We had to take him to get trained, which was like a part-time job.

Biggie came from (Notorious BIG), my favorite rapper.

Chisholm proposed on a summer trip to Italy in 2023.

He had it all planned out.

There was a photographer hired to take their photo when he popped the question in Positano.

Our AirBNB was 20 minutes up these stairs, he said.

The whole city is built on a cliff.

We get there from a boat charter and had to go up 20 minutes of stairs with our suitcases.

I carried both suitcases, and we get up there and I was soaked in sweat.

She lies down, needs some rest.

I shower and get ready.

We need to be down in 30 minutes for the photographer.

It ended up causing a fight because she was like, What are we rushing for? Dinner is not for two hours.' Chisholm made up stories about how he was hungry and wanted to get a drink before they ate.

He was rushing her down the stairs, and Kate was stopping to pet stray cats.

I got so nervous, but it ended up really well, Chisholm said.

But leading up, we were fighting the whole time.

In a bounce-back 4-1 win over the Flyers on Dec.

14, Kirill Kaprizov of course led the Wild with two goals.

Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi each scored too.

But when center Marat Khusnutdinov had the opportunity to pick the teams player of the game awarding the large HARD chain he looked to another direction.

Warrior Chizzy.

Well earned by Chisholm.

2 huge blocks on 5-on-6 after 3 icings.

Cool Marat recognized it.

Not to mention Chisholms breakout pass that led to Rossis snipe https://t.co/zwAgeB3bOL Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 15, 2024 Chisholm had two huge blocked shots in the final minute during the Flyers six-on-five onslaught, which helped save the Wild after three icings.

That coaches had trusted him to be on the ice during such a high-leverage situation meant a lot to Chisholm.

So did the fact that his teammates, like Khusnutdinov, recognized it.

Hes not just a puck-moving power-play specialist.

Advertisement I think Ive tried to be a two-way guy for most of my career, Chisholm said.

Thats now forming more solidly in my game now.

Im trusted defensively, and Im defending and Im focusing on my defense all season.

Ive defended a lot harder.

There are a lot of aspects of my game.

Im not putting up a ton of points right now, but thatll take care of itself down the road.

Ill always have those instincts.

I think its been a good thing for me to come in here and really focus on the other half of my game.

Had Chisholm not made that concerted effort, he might not have gotten this chance to take on a top-four role once Jonas Brodin and then Middleton went down with injuries.

Middleton (upper-body injury) is eligible to come off IR on Jan.

7 but is likely to be out until later this month.

Chisholm has primarily played with Spurgeon on the second pair, and hes helped tilt the ice when theyre out there, with a 55.25 Corsi-for percentage in 275 five-on-five minutes (Spurgeon had a 58.55 Corsi-For in 160 minutes with Brodin to start the season).

Its nice to see him play that role and have the sacrifice to be able to block those shots like he did, Hynes said.

When hes playing a smart, simple game from an offensive perspective, thats when hes able to use his puck-moving skills and offensive talent.

At the same time, when he doesnt have the puck, hes making a concerted effort to be good with his rush defense and his gaps, box-outs around the net front.

Hes ending plays and playing hard down low.

Those are all components hes growing in, which is great to see.

The Wild still certainly miss Middleton; they are 3-6 since his injury.

But Chisholm being able to hold his own in a top-four role after being picked up off waivers less than a year ago is definitely impressive.

Hes a restricted free agnet after this season, with touted left-shot prospect Zeev Buium coming soon, but hes hoping hes found a home in the Twin Cities.

Im way more comfortable, he said.

I feel like Ive been here for a while now.

(Top photo: Perry Nelson / Imagn Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.