Report: Conditions altered in Hurricanes-Devils deal for Vatanen

The conditional draft pick involved in the deadline deal that brought Sami Vatanen to the Carolina Hurricanes from the New Jersey Devils has some new stipulations attached.

If Carolina beats the New York Rangers in the qualifying round and Vatanen plays in 70% of the Hurricanes' games after the play-in round, New Jersey will acquire the Canes' 2020 third-round pick, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports.

Should the Hurricanes beat the Rangers and Vatanen play in less than 70% of playoff contests, it will depend on how many games he played against the Rangers. If he plays at least two games and Carolina wins the series, the Devils get a 2020 fourth-round pick. But if he makes two appearances and the Rangers win, the Hurricanes can send a 2020 or 2021 fourth-round pick, according to Friedman.

Finally, if Vatanen doesn't appear in at least two games against the Rangers, the Devils won't receive a pick, Friedman adds.

At the time of the trade, Carolina agreed to surrender a 2020 fourth-round selection if Vatanen played in five regular-season games. The pick would have become a 2020 third-rounder if he played in 12 regular-season contests or 70% of playoff games.

The 29-year-old defenseman didn't get a chance to suit up in a regular-season game for Carolina due to a lingering injury. After playing in the Hurricanes' exhibition game this week, he's expected to be in the lineup for Game 1 of the play-in round beginning Saturday.

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NHL rules Oilers owe 3rd-round pick to Flames from Neal-Lucic deal

The Edmonton Oilers will have to surrender a third-round pick to the Calgary Flames after all.

The NHL ruled the Oilers must transfer either their 2020 or 2021 third-rounder to Calgary to complete last summer's James Neal-Milan Lucic deal, the Flames announced Friday.

Edmonton will have until the third round of the 2020 draft to make its decision.

The forwards were swapped last July, and the condition attached to Edmonton's third-round pick was that it would only transfer if Neal, whom the Oilers received, scored at least 21 goals in 2019-20 and Lucic finished with at least 10 fewer markers than his counterpart.

Those conditions were extremely close to being met when the season was paused March 12; Neal scored 19 goals and Lucic had eight.

Neal potted all 19 of his goals in the first 42 games of the season before missing a month due to a foot injury. Lucic collected four over his last 15 contests, including two in his last four.

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Crosby: Athletes are important in fight against racism

Sidney Crosby offered his thoughts Friday on the ongoing fight against systemic racism.

"We're role models, first and foremost. I think we understand that. We understand what's going on in the world," the Pittsburgh Penguins captain said Friday. "We're important when it comes to being part of change. I just think there are important conversations that you have to have. I know, personally, I've had some of those."

Crosby's comments come one day after Evander Kane called out the NHL for its lack of support of its Black players.

Teams and players have stood in solidarity before games in support of Black Lives Matter since the NHL returned to the ice earlier this week for exhibition contests.

Crosby said he spent the last few months better educating himself and learning about the issues the Black community faces, and he'll continue to try to help encourage diversity in hockey.

"But I still need to continue to (have those conversations). Just educate ourselves," Crosby said. "Whether it's where we play or in our communities, how we can make a difference."

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Report: NHL records zero positive tests since players arrived in hubs

The NHL's bubble plan appears to be working.

About 1,500 daily COVID-19 tests have been conducted in each of the Toronto and Edmonton hubs since teams arrived Sunday, and zero have returned positive so far, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

The NHL is working with LifeLabs in Toronto and DynaLIFE in Edmonton to administer the tests. Results are processed within 24 hours.

Each team was permitted to bring 52 people into the bubble, and everyone is tested daily.

Every club has played an exhibition game since arriving, and teams have held numerous practices. The qualifying round starts Saturday.

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Cowboys, Yankees, Knicks lead Forbes’ most valuable teams list

The Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable professional sports franchise in 2020, worth an estimated $5.5 billion, according to the annual list published by Forbes.

The New York Yankees are the only other team worth at least $5 billion, while the New York Knicks remain the most valuable NBA club despite their continued struggles on the court.

10 most valuable sports teams

Rank Team Value League
1 Dallas Cowboys $5.5B NFL
2 New York Yankees $5B MLB
3 New York Knicks $4.6B NBA
4 Los Angeles Lakers $4.4B NBA
5 Golden State Warriors $4.3B NBA
6 Real Madrid $4.24B La Liga
7 New England Patriots $4.1B NFL
8 Barcelona $4.02B La Liga
9 New York Giants $3.9B NFL
10 Manchester United $3.81B EPL

The most valuable NHL team is the New York Rangers, who sit 70th overall with an estimated worth of $1.65 billion.

The NFL houses 27 of the top 50 franchises on the list.

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Rangers’ DeAngelo a game-time decision Saturday vs. Canes

New York Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo is a game-time decision for Game 1 of the qualifying round against the Carolina Hurricanes, head coach David Quinn said Friday.

It's unknown why DeAngelo's presence for Saturday's opener is in jeopardy, but he missed Friday's practice.

DeAngelo's projected partner, Marc Staal, will play despite leaving Wednesday's exhibition game, Quinn added.

Libor Hajek would likely be inserted into the lineup if DeAngelo doesn't dress, Quinn said, according to USA Today's Vince Z. Mercogliano.

DeAngelo, who played a team-high 24:09 on Wednesday, had a breakout season in 2019-20, finishing fourth among all NHL blue-liners with 53 points in 68 games.

The Rangers and Hurricanes play at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday.

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