The NWHL’s free agency period is drawing to a close, with exactly two weeks left to general managers to sign players to their teams. And so far, the NWHL has not seen the highly-anticipated star signing of Hilary Knight, one of the best-known faces in women’s hockey.

Knight has been a Boston Blade since 2012, when she graduated from one of the top hockey schools in the country, the University of Wisconsin. As a Badger Knight graduated with 262 career points, and is the Badgers all-time leader in goals (143), game-winning goals (30), power-play goals (37), and short-handed goals (8).

As a Blade, Knight became the first American to be awarded the CWHL’s Most Valuable Player Award, and helped the Blades to their first and second Clarkson Cups in 2013 and 2015.

She has earned two silver medals with the 2010 and 2014 U.S. Women’s Ice Hockey team at the Vancouver and Sochi Olypmics, and was named to the Media All-Star team in Sochi.

All in all, Knight is generally considered one of the best players in the game.

Knight appeared at the launch party for the league in April, incited tremendous speculation. Though she did not speak officially, it seemed clear that she would be a key part of the NWHL’s marketing plan and roster going forward. As the NWHL described itself as a place where the best in women’s hockey would play, adding Knight to the roster was a no-brainer.

She joined league founder, commissioner and New York Riveters GM Dani Rylan in promotional interviews where she spoke about the importance of getting paid for showcasing a skill she had worked so hard developing, and generally lent her face and fame to the burgeoning league.

However, there has been no announcement of any official agreement from either the league or Knight.

Recently, however, Knight appeared in photos with Riveters goaltender Nana Fujimoto at the Beanpot Championship, bringing speculation back to the forefront of everyone’s minds.

Her signing with the NWHL seems almost inevitable at this point. What could be holding the deal up?

The answer may be more complicated than we think.

Thank you a lot of follow♡ I'm so happy!! and, Happy International Day of Friendship◡̈*. pic.twitter.com/wZOhj3Ifef — Nana Fujimoto (@NanaFujimoto33) July 30, 2015

Some have recently mused on the lack of star signings in the NWHL since the league launched in March, focusing on big names in the CWHL, such as Hilary Knight, Meghan Duggan, Jocelyne or Monique Lamoureax. The questions are well-deserved, focusing on whether the fan confidence in the league is stronger than players’, but don’t take everything into account.

With no players who have wide-scale name recognition signed yet it begs the question: are players not as confident in the league as fans are and have been?

Instead of looking at the confidence players have in the league — and those interviewed have no shortage of confidence, both on and off the record — it likely has more to do with logistics.

The more established names in women’s hockey (Knight, Duggan, Chu, the Lamoureaux twins) are, in general, older and more established in hockey, and in life in general.

Most of those signing are just out of college by one or two years — a few even only graduated in the spring of 2015. They generally have more flexibility, having not yet built a life for themselves in one city or another. The oldest signee thus far, Sam Faber, actually works at the rink where she will take the ice as a forward for the Connecticut Whale, making it extremely convenient for her to sign.

Knight has been a Blade since 2012, firmly establishing her life in the Boston area. And while Rylan would likely want Knight to sign with the Riveters, the NWHL’s flagship team, which Rylan GMs, nearly all Knight’s Blades teammates who made the jump chose to go to the Pride.

At this point, Knight, if she is indeed making the jump from CWHL to NWHL, is trying to figure out which team she would rather be a part of. If Knight stays in Boston she’ll have no trouble generating chemistry with players she’s been hitting the ice with for years. However, if she signs with New York, there is little doubt she will be one of the faces of the franchise for the NWHL.

Bear in mind that this could make it difficult for her to return to the CWHL in the future, though that is likely a secondary concern, if even it registers.

At this point, should she sign, the choice comes down to how large a role Knight is willing to take on for the NWHL, and how much effort it would take for her to move to a new city to play in a brand-new league.