shelfit is exactly right. This league is designed to support the desires of about 35 people. The rest are along just to give them a quorum. It has nothing to do with what is best for women's hockey or even to provide a livable salary to the others. This arrangement is what the sponsor of the league has agreed to. For the other potential players who are not one of the favored, if they want to keep playing hockey for a year or two for fun, this provides that chance. But so does playing overseas or even playing high level local leagues. A few of the players on the non-signed list have Ivy league degrees - why would they want to try to scrape a living together under these conditions when there are other ways to keep playing yet have a better way to support themselves?