Verizon is very dedicated to Windows Phone 8 - and they are becoming more and more dedicated to Nokia. They were disappointed that HTC did not offer a 32GB version of the 8X and that they refused to add LTE to the 8S. Verizon wanted the 8S, but new smartphones must have LTE.
Verizon would really like to offer more Nokias. Nokia actually gave them a slight price break when they reduced the price to free with contract. I've heard that there is an update to the 822 coming at some point with a higher end screen and probably built in wireless charging. They really want three tiers of Nokia phones - free, $99, and $199. I have heard that the 928 may not only have a higher MP sensor than the 920, but also microSD support to go with 32GB with a faster GPU.
Even so, I love my Lumia 822. Not surprised at the success. I expect a variant of the 720 or 620 with LTE to show up as a free phone, the 822 to see an update (and it could end up being wireless charging built in and including the wireless charger with the package), and the 920 variant.
Verizon is concerned about letting Samsung get too much play in the WP8 market because of their strength with Android. They don't think HTC can dominate any market. So they really want to see Nokia vie with Samsung and Apple as the top phone manufacturers. Three big phone OEMs is better than one or two.