Watch the inaugural Professional Women's Hockey League draft

Click on the video player above to watch live coverage of the inaugural Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) draft from CBC headquarters in downtown Toronto.

The live stream begins at 1 p.m. ET on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem. It is also available on radio-canada.ca/sports and the Radio-Canada info app, and for international audiences on CBC Sports' and Radio-Canada's YouTube pages.

Ninety players among a pool of 268 will be chosen for the original six franchises — including Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa — during a 15-round selection period. Each general manager will build a roster ahead of a scheduled January 2024 puck drop.

WATCH | Jayna Hefford discusses PWHL with CBC Sports' Devin Heroux:

Minnesota will pick first, followed by Toronto, Boston, New York, Ottawa and Montreal. It will be a snake draft, meaning the order will reverse after each round, giving Montreal the first pick of round two.

"The inaugural PWHL Draft is a monumental event in our league's history and an event the players have been waiting for with great anticipation and excitement," said Jayna Hefford, the PWHL's senior vice president of hockey operations.

The first four rounds of the draft will be hosted by CBC Sports' Andi Petrillo, with analysis from Hailey Salvian and two-time Canadian Olympic gold medallist Shannon Szabados. CBC Sports' Anastasia Bucsis will conduct stage-side interviews with players.

Forward Natalie Spooner and defenders Erin Ambrose and Claire Thompson headline the Canadians who are available in the draft, while American stars Taylor Heise and Amanda Kessel and Switzerland's Alina Muller are also among the players who declared their eligibility.