The Devils acquired Declan Chisholm from the Capitals on June 25, 2026, sending a 2027 fourth-round pick back the other way. New Jersey added a 26-year-old defenseman while Washington recovered the fourth-round selection it had already used to get him.
Chisholm arrives with 125 career NHL appearances, six goals and 22 assists. He split time between Minnesota and the Capitals over the last two seasons, then became part of another defensive reset after the Devils moved Simon Nemec earlier in the week.
Declan Chisholm’s Recent Turn
His 2024-25 season was the peak so far. Chisholm played a career-best 66 games for Minnesota, posted 12 points and averaged 17 minutes a night, enough to make him a more visible part of an NHL defense than he had been before.
The season after that was quieter. He played 26 games for the Capitals in 2025-26, recorded seven points and averaged under 14 minutes a night, a drop in usage that explains why a depth move fit both sides so cleanly.
Capitals Reset The Pick
Washington had traded for Chisholm only last summer, getting him along with a sixth-round pick for a fourth-round selection. The Capitals then signed him to a two-year, $3.2 million contract, but the return to a fourth-round pick shows how quickly the asset cycle turned back around.
For the Devils, the price is modest and the role is the question. Chisholm has moved through Winnipeg, Minnesota and Washington without locking down a full-time lineup spot, even after a one-year, $1 million contract in the 2024 offseason with Minnesota and a career year that suggested a bigger role might follow.
Devils Defense After Simon Nemec
The timing matters because New Jersey had already traded away Simon Nemec earlier in the week. That left room for another defenseman, and Chisholm gives the Devils another left-side option without costing them a current roster player.
The move also fits the state of the Devils’ blue line, which PuckPedia says is the most expensive in the NHL at $36.5 million. A trade like this does not force a lineup answer immediately, but it does give New Jersey another player to sort into a defense group that already changed once this week.
Will Chisholm claim a regular spot in New Jersey or settle into a reserve role? That is the part the trade does not settle, and the next roster call will decide whether this is a simple depth add or a larger part of the Devils’ defensive plan.
