More than 200 women's hockey players announced on Thursday they will skip the next National Women's Hockey League season in protest.

John Wawrow and Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press reported the news, noting the goal of the move is to "establish a single, economically viable professional league" after some players said they had to fund their own health insurance while being paid as little as $2,000 annually.

Wawrow and Whyno explained the Canadian Women's Hockey League folded over a month ago, which left the United States-based NWHL as the only women's professional hockey league in North America.

The Athletic's Katie Strang provided further details of the statement released by the players: 

American Hilary Knight, who helped lead the United States to the gold medal in the 2018 Olympics, is one of those who plan on skipping the season.

She, along with Canadian national team goalie Shannon Szabados, posted a message on social media stressing the importance of the diverse group standing together:

"We're not playing anywhere professionally in North America," Knight told the AP. "We just want to build something better. Now, what that looks like could be a handful of different things. But our main purpose and goal is to promote the growth of the game and increase the visibility. But ultimately, we need the sustainability factor to make us all feel better about what we're doing on a daily basis."

There are only five teams in the NWHL, and Wawrow and Whyno suggested this move will put additional pressure on the NHL to play a more direct role in supporting women's hockey much like the NBA does with the WNBA.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said he believes there are "genuine concerns about sustainable models" following the CWHL's folding.

"What we've repeatedly said is if there turns out to be a void—and we don't wish that on anybody—then we'll look at the possibilities and we'll study what might be appropriate," Bettman said.

CWHL Players' Association co-chair Liz Knox responded to those comments while pointing to this move.

"The NHL's saying, 'Until there's a voice in women's hockey we're not going to step in,'" Knox said, per the AP. "Well, here's a void. Here's the players saying this is not enough. We've earned better than this. We've earned the respect we have, and we deserve what we're asking for."