Claimed: Ying talks about Reign future

[Gudnason 607]

Rudi Ying shocked quite a few people after he only signed a one-year contract with the Riga Reign this past offseason despite being drafted fourth overall in the S55 VHL Entry Draft. This means he will be a restricted free agent after the season, and while Riga still has the opportunity, and final say, in whether they want to keep him or not, other teams will be open to handing the Chinese forward offer sheets for Riga to match.

 

Rumours have been swirling that Ying hasn't totally committed to the Riga franchise yet, but that does not mean he won't be in the Riga organization beyond this season. It may be just a case of Ying keeping all his options open, and taking things on a year-to-year basis, rather than committing to the franchise for three years right off the bat as almost all rookies do.

 

Although Ying has connections with the Cologne organization, it is understood that it would not be legal for him to sign with the Express as a free agent this offseason due to complicated league rules. Other teams do interest Ying, such as the upstart Toronto Legion, the almost-always-contending New York Americans, and their hated rivals, the Quebec City Meute, to name a few.

 

Ying's performances so far in general have been very lackluster to say the least. A disappointing VHLM season with the Las Vegas Aces last year, a pointless showing at the World Cup this past offseason, and a horrendous start to the VHLM campaign right now with his two shootout goals being the only statistics of note have only been salvaged by his strong playoff performance last season as he got carried to the Founders Cup by his Aces' teammates.

 

There are also concerns about how long Ying can share a locker room with Markus King, as it is understood that these two players are not particularly fond of each other, as they have both made snark comments at each other in the media. It doesn't help that these two player agencies have had a long-lasting feud in the past, so the latest controversies between these two parties have only stood to add fuel to the fire.

 

Ying doesn't want to let his team down, especially as the Reign drafted him quite high at fourth overall, but at the scouting combine team psychologists have understood that Ying, while not necessarily selfish, would never sacrifice his personal interests for the sake of others. That would mean that if there were greener pastures available elsewhere, Ying would do his due diligence to pursue those opportunities, and let the organizations battle within the rulebook to obtain his rights, possibly through compensating the Reign franchise to do so.

 

452 words, for Ying