The NWHL’s #FreeAgentFrenzy ended Tuesday, Aug. 18 at midnight with an announcement on their website: the league had filled all its roster spots, and would hold to its commitment of paying its players for their skill.

Per the press release:

The free agency period for the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) ended at midnight eastern time on August 17th, 2015. At this time, all of the 72 slots available for players in the inaugural season have been filled. Out of respect for the players, the NWHL has agreed to not announce the remaining players’ intent to play in the league until they receive official releases from other leagues. Each team has a total of 18 players, including 3 goaltenders, paid at a minimum of $10,000 per season. Each NWHL team has a spending cap of $270,000 for the year. The NWHL still plans to announce the final team rosters and contract details as soon as the players are ready.

While they were unable to release all remaining 11 names and player details, the information the NWHL released made some facts clear.

First, all four teams have apparently filled their rosters, which had been in some doubt among fans as the signings slowed to a trickle over the last few days. The league has hit its benchmarks thus far in draft picks and free agent signings, indicating that players are less hesitant about the league than many had assumed, due to the lack of publicity.

Second, that due to the language used in the press release — while the league is refusing to release details out of respect — that does not indicate necessity.

As such, some of those players are likely CWHL athletes, given the proximity of the league and the large number of NWHL free agents who played in the CWHL either only last season or in the past. A few of the remaining 11 may even be big names, such as Hilary Knight or Brianna Decker. Both players regularly topped the charts in the Canadian league, winning the Clarkson Cup, and their Olympic records speak for themselves.

However, as there are eleven players total who remain anonymous, there is a strong chance the group is made up of a combination of CWHL and European league players, and hopefully as well as some from outside the traditional hockey-sphere.

Third, the NWHL specifies in their release that teams are looking to roster three goaltenders each.

While a roster consisting of nine forwards, six defenders and three goaltenders (for a total of 18) makes the most sense, there may be small differences between organizations for flexibility. Signing some, like Erin Barley-Maloney, who can play both defense and offense, will allow them to shift the roster around and stack themselves in certain areas against particular teams on an as-needed basis.

That means that while a team like the New York Riveters may have filled nine forward spots, they may still sign a forward or two (like Knight) and shift players around.

2016 Free Agent Deadline: 8/17 at Noon. — Dani Rylan (@DaniRylan) August 18, 2015

Finally, the league reminded fans that it was committed to paying players a salary, with a baseline of $10,000 a season in recompense for their skill and their work. With salaries ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 in its inaugural season, one hopes the league turns enough of a profit to raise the base salary and to up the number of games its athletes play until women’s hockey fans are complaining that the seasons are “too long,” much like NHL fans who don’t now how good they have it.

The NWHL’s first practices will take place almost a month from the free agency deadline. As such, while fans may need to continue to practice patience, they will have answers sometime soon, even if it isn’t on the exact day they had hoped. The league announced nine new players over the course of the weekend leading up to, and the last day of free agency.

It is clear, however, that the league is here to stay.