Claimed: Bog Off the Market [1/2]

[TurnDaddy 323]

Riga, Latvia - We are getting news Breaking out of Riga this evening and it sounds like Serbian Defenseman Niko Bogdonavic is staying put in Riga. The deal is rumored to be a lifetime deal worth upwards of 15 million dollars. No word yet from the sources, wait....yes, we now have confirmed the deal is official and Riga and Niko are expected to take the podium shortly. 

 

 

“Thank you all for coming. Earlier this evening Niko and Jones Agencies called us and said they were coming in to talk about the proposed deal we had offered last week. Knowing that Niko wanted to test the free agent waters, we didn’t want to push the issue with him to sign, and allowed him to persue that. We had no idea that we would get this deal done tonight, and frankly, I thought he was coming to personally tell us he would not be coming back next season. We are beyond ecstatic to retain the services of this young man. Now I’ll turn it over to Niko himself...” 

 

“Thank you all for coming. Like it had been reported earlier this past weekend, I truly wanted to see what was out there for me. Outside of going to Canada to play for the Lynx, I hadn’t been anywhere besides Serbia. Not getting a whole lot of time in these cities we played in each night, I wanted to go out and truly see what each one had to offer, but in the back of my mind Riga would always be first in my heart. They are the ones who took the chance on me in the draft, they are the ones who gave me the opportunity to continue my career here in the VHL. It would have been really crappy of me to turn my back on them, especially after we had just won a championship together. That feeling is something I want to experience again, and again, and with all my wonderful teammates and friends here in Riga, I could not leave that behind. I am thankful Riga still wanted to talk to us and I beyond thankful for the opportunities they still give me. This lifetime deal is something that means a ton to me. To start and finish my career in one spot, that’s an amazing feeling. Now hopefully I stay in their good graces and they don’t trade me, haha! Any questions?” 

 

“Niko, General Manager Zeptenbergs mentioned he thought you were coming to tell him you wouldn’t be resigning with Riga...if that were the case, wouldn’t that mean some sort of tampering was going on before teams were actually allowed to talk to you?” 

 

“No, not at all. I can sit here and with one hundred percent honesty tell you, no one contacted me to talk about joining, what kind of contract, etc. it just didn’t happen. I can’t speak for Zeps, but perhaps he thought that pertaining to our discussion that I wanted to explore, that maybe I had made my mind up that while I didn’t know where I was going, it wouldn’t be returning to Riga.” 

 

“Niko, a lifetime deal. That’s gotta feel great, right?” 

 

“Absolutely it does. To start my career here and to finish it here. It’s a wonderful feeling.” 

 

“Niko, some people say this contract is too small, what do you say to that?” 

 

“I would say money isn’t everything and hometown discounts and loyalty are definitely a thing. I don’t want to suck up all the cap space and we can’t afford other players. Depth wins you championships and I want more.” 

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Review

Nikooooo, nice little write up on how you were feeling about FA and Riga. Keep up the good work