PWHL draft will reintroduce feeling of year-long team camaraderie to women's hockey

For the last four years, many women's hockey players like Renata Fast missed one simple thing: teammates.

Yes, there was the national team. And for the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) members like the Canadian defender, there were Dream Gap Tour squads as well.

But the camaraderie of a professional team, with all of its members located in one city, was glaringly absent.

"I am so excited to be able to have that opportunity to represent the city, go on the journey with a team of players and staff that we get to build towards from the start of the season to the end of the season," Fast told CBC Sports.

"That sets us all up for success and also for the most amount of enjoyment."

Fast, of Burlington, Ont., was one of three initial signings to Toronto's Professional Women's Hockey League team, alongside Canadian teammates Sarah Nurse and Blayre Turnbull.

Fast said she'll be at the event at CBC headquarters in Toronto.

"I can't wait for it. It'll be an awesome day, an awesome opportunity to meet your teammates that are there, that get drafted. So it'll be really, really fun, but also very interesting," Fast said.

Though many of the best players have already signed, the draft represents a momentous occasion as the first of its kind in women's hockey.

It is also rare to have so many elite players available — including the likes of rising American star Taylor Heise and two-time Canadian Olympic gold medallist Natalie Spooner — at one time in any sport. In total, 268 players declared for the draft.

"It's going to be a pretty special, full circle moment just reflective of everything the women's game has gone through," Fast said. "And it didn't matter the path that these players have taken that will be drafted, whether it's