Declan Chisholm, a professional hockey player who has been healthy all season, hasn’t played in a hockey game — anywhere for any team — since Dec. 4. That’s expected to change on Saturday.

Chisholm, a defenseman claimed off waivers from Winnipeg last month, will slot into the Wild blue line in a 4 p.m. puck drop against the Buffalo Sabres at Xcel Energy Center.

“Pretty excited,” he said Friday after a 50-minute practice at TRIA Rink.

Stuck behind a productive, healthy blue line at Winnipeg this season, Chisholm was finally waived by the Jets and immediately claimed by several teams. After joining the Wild after the all-star break, he found himself behind a six defensemen who helped the Wild win four straight games, a streak they bring into Saturday afternoon’s game.

Chisholm, 24, didn’t necessarily want to wait any longer to play, but he acknowledged Friday that it was probably a good idea.

“I’m eager to get out there. but I didn’t know any of the system,” he said. “It’s a little different than Winnipeg, so it was nice to watch from up top (in the press box), and it’s way slower (from) up there, so you can learn quickly.”

Dakota Mermis, who has played in 21 straight games, will be a healthy scratch for the first time since mid-December.

Chisholm, 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, calls himself “a smooth-skating, two-way defenseman.” He ran a power play unit in the minors, and got a look with the Wild’s second unit during practice on Friday.

It’s unclear whether he will do that on Saturday; Brock Faber and Jonas Brodin are the regular blue liners on the power play. But he will get into his fifth career NHL game, and his first since the Jets’ 2-1 victory over Carolina on Dec. 4.

“He’s a good-skating defender,” Hynes said. “He moves the puck well. I think he can transition the puck well — breakouts, neutral zone transition. And he’s a big, strong kid; so when he’s in the competitive areas defensively — net fronts and D zone coverage in the corner — he needs to be able to end plays and have hard boxouts; make himself hard to play against in those areas.”

Foligno not ready

Marcus Foligno, who missed a 2-0 road trip through Vegas and Arizona this week, will be out with a lower body injury longer than the Wild initially anticipated.

Foligno, 32, left last Friday night’s 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh with a lower body injury. He was playing a strong game before he was injured when tripped by the Penguins’ Marcus Pettersson with 1:31 remaining in the second period. He returned in the third period but only played an 11-second shift.

Before the team left for Las Vegas last Sunday, Hynes said he expected the veteran wing to miss only “a couple of games.” That’s no longer the case.

“I don’t feel that way at this point because he’s not going to play (Saturday),” Hynes said. “So, just trying to get a better timeline on what it is, talking with the medical people. But I don’t have a firm one to give you today.”

Brandon Duhaime has taken Foligno’s spot on the third line.

Briefly

Filip Gustavsson is slated to start in net against the Sabres on Saturday. He and Marc-Andre Fleury each won games on the road trip. The Wild’s next game is a 1 p.m. President’s Day puck drop against the Jets on Monday at the X.