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Devils Get Revised Conditions on Vatanen Trade Due to COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the sporting landscape a lot in 2020. One more thing that will be changing will be the conditions on the trade the Devils made with the Carolina Hurricanes as New Jersey sent Sami Vatanen down to Raleigh.

According to Amanda Stein on the “Inside the Devils Blog” on NewJerseyDevils.com, the NHL was asked to make new conditions by both teams.

The trade went down on February 24 as the Devils sent Vatanen to Carolina in exchange for Freddie Claesson, Janne Kuokkanen and a conditional fourth round pick in this year’s Draft.

Stein is reporting that, due to the season being “halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, and subsequently restarted with the 24-team format, the Hurricanes and Devils required the NHL to help regulate the conditions of the fourth round selection.”

The condition originally came due to Vatanen being injured when the Devils dealt him. Vatanen had to play “between five and 11 regular-season games to close out the year” for Carolina in order for the pick to be a 2020 fourth rounder.

Stein says that Vatanen had to play in “12 regular-season games or 70% of Carolina’s playoff games in 2020” for the pick to be “upgraded to a third-round pick.” She said that the Canes had 21 games to go in their 2019-20 season at the time of the trade. The last condition was that if Vatanen could only “four games or less; the pick would not be included in the deal.”

When the time came to rethink things on the conditions, due to the pandemic and the craziness that surrounded the season as it got restarted, both teams “submitted their perspectives on the deal which the NHL presided over and determined the following stipulations regarding the pick, which includes several scenarios.”

Those stipulations and scenarios are: “If Carolina wins its Qualifying Round against the Rangers, and Sami Vatanen plays in 70% or more of Carolina’s 2019-20 Stanley Cup Playoff games, which does not include the qualifying round, Carolina will transfer its own third round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft to New Jersey.” Stein clarified by saying, “If Carolina was to play six playoff games, Vatanen would need to play in five or more of those games to qualify for the 70% minimum threshold.”

If that does not occur and “Sami Vatanen plays in two or more games during the Qualifying Round, Carolina will transfer a fourth (4th) round pick to New Jersey.” Vatanen has played in the two games Carolina has played so far against New York in the Qualifying Round, so the Devils will obtain at least a fourth-round pick, Stein reported.

Another scenario set out by Stein says that if “Carolina wins its Qualifying Round series, Carolina will transfer its own fourth (4th) round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft to New Jersey.” The Hurricanes are currently up 2-0 in their best-of-five series against the Rangers, but should they suddenly fall apart, “Carolina will have the option to defer the fourth round pick they will transfer to New Jersey to its own fourth (4th) round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft instead of transferring its pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.” She says that “this deferral option must be provided to the NHL’s Central Registry and the New Jersey Devils informed prior to the fourth (4th) round of the 2020 NHL Draft. Without such notice, Carolina will transfer its own fourth (4th) round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.”

This is a kind of weird thing to go through to get things right for both teams on this deal, but let’s face it, this year has been weird all around. We will see how the whole thing plays out. Vatanen, as noted by Stein in her article, has a point (an assist) in his two Qualifying Round games against the Rangers and the Hurricanes seem to be rolling on their way towards the playoffs.

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Running with the Devils to Be Virtual This Year

For the last three or so years, the Devils have been teaming up with RWJBarnabas Health to present the Running with the Devils 5K run and walk. The event has been held at or near Turtle Back Zoo and the South Mountain Reservoir.

This year, due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 global pandemic, the event will be virtual.

According to the registration page for the race, the festivities will be held through the RunGo app between October 1 and 25, 2020.

RWJBarnabas Health and the New Jersey Devils will be teaming “up to honor RWJBarnabas Health’s 35,000 healthcare workers and the countless essential workers across New Jersey who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in response to this unprecedented global health crisis.” Due to this, 100-percent “of proceeds from the event will benefit RWJBarnabas Health’s Emergency Response Fund, which will help us continue the work of treating our most critical patients while preparing to protect our communities for any potential resurgence of the virus or other emergencies.” Therefore, the event will “safeguard the health of New Jersey.”

To participate, go to classy.org to register by searching for “Running with the Devils.” Next, you will have to download the RunGo app for iPhone or Android. Once that is done and you have created an account on RunGo, you will open the race course in app. You can then run the course either on a treadmill or Virtual Outdoor Mode. From there, you will submit your run by going to “Share Your Run” and then “Submit to Virtual Race.” You will then appear on the leaderboard assuming you chose the correct race on the app.

After that, the Devils and RWJBarnabas encourage you to share the story of your run, photos and videos on social media by mentioning @RWJBH, @NJDevils or #RWTD5K.

There are three courses available to run from October 1 to 25th: “Run with the Devils,” “Run with Our Heroes” and “Run with the Animals.”

The first race, “Run with the Devils,” is the same course as was used in last year’s race, if you got to participate. It is USA Track & Field certified and will feature “messages of encouragement from New Jersey Devils players and interesting information about the team’s history from Devils Radio Announcer Matt Loughlin.” It begins on Cherry Lane through the South Mountain Recreation Complex around Orange Reservoir and then finish back on Cherry Lane.

“Run with the Animals” goes through the Turtle Back Zoo “with the animals cheering you on.” You will hear facts about the animals and exhibits you pass as narrated by Loughlin.

“Run with Our Heroes” will see you run the same USA Track & Field certified course as “Run with the Devils” but instead of Loughlin reading you facts about the Devils, you will hear motivation and stories of inspiration from frontline workers.

You can run or walk any of the courses as many times as you want from October 1 to 25, 2020. You can run anywhere you would like on your treadmill or in real life (i.e. you do not have to be at the Reservoir or Turtle Back Zoo), but you MUST be registered on the RunGo app in order to be considered for any prizes won in the race. No cellular data will be used by the app, as the app works offline while you are running according to the FAQ’s put out by RWJBarnabas Health.

As for fundraising, the site says if you raise $100 as an individual, you can win a 30-percent discount on Fanatics merchandise (the Devils Den Team Store at Prudential Center is run by Fanatics), with some exclusions. You will also have a chance at an RWJBarnabas Health Running with the Devils prize pack which is valued at $200.

Raising $250 will get an individual runner a personalized “shou-out” from a Devil on social media. By raising $500, you will get a customized Devils jersey. One-thousand dollars raised will net you a 30-minute virtual group training video conference call with the Devils trainer – it does note that schedule is subject to their availability.

The top individual fundraiser will get a signed Devils jersey and a family season pass to Essex County Turtle Back Zoo. Top fundraising team will get a 30-minute conference call with Devils players and coaches (the same condition is noted here as for the conference call with the trainer, as players and coaches will be subject to their availability) as well as a behind-the-scenes tour for up to ten people at Turtle Back Zoo. This is dependent on the zoo’s availability, of course, as the site notes. The top team and individual fundraisers are based on what is raised by midnight of October 25.

You can register as a virtual runner or walker (ages 12-plus) – $20 for a walker, $25 for a runner, a child runner or walker (11 and younger) – both being free, or an RWJBarnabas Health Employee runner ($25) or walker ($20). All registration fees are 100-percent tax deductible and go to RWJBarnabas Health to support their work.

Registration for all runners include a custom printable bib, access to training tips from RWJBarnabas Health training coaches and dieticians, access to special virtual Turtle Back Zoo animal presentations and are eligible for additional Devils prizes as well as finisher medals for the first 900 registered runners (12 and up) once your time is submitted to RunGo. Runners 12 and up will also be eligible for race and fundraising prizes.

Walkers will get the bib, the tips from coaches and dieticians and be eligible for any prizes in their age group. RWJBarnabas Health workers can enter their promo code at checkout for free registration.

This is always one of my favorite Devils events of the year and it is great to see that it will not be canceled due to the pandemic. On a personal note, my sister and my father both work for RWJBarnabas and have been on the frontlines since the pandemic began. It is wonderful that the Devils and RWJBarnabas are working for them just as much as they work for us.