What to watch for as PWHL teams open training camps on Wednesday

When the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) opens training camps on Wednesday, it will be the first time players on the six teams will be on the ice together.

The nearly month-long camp will be the first opportunity for new teammates to start to build chemistry, and for coaches to test out lines, as teams work toward beginning league play in January.

More than 40 players will be coming to camp fresh off the intense Canada-USA Rivalry Series or playing in Europe. Others haven't played a game of competitive hockey since the spring.

"Everyone's going to be in a different situation," Jayna Hefford, PWHL's senior vice-president of hockey operations, told CBC Sports in October. "But I think that's what professional hockey is all about, is that the day you step on the ice, on day one, you're being evaluated."

With only six teams in the league, compared to the eleven teams that played last season on the Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association (PWHPA) circuit and in the now-defunct Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), many players will be taking on different roles.

Other players will leave camp without a job.

More than 180 players were invited to training camps, according to a list of camp rosters released by the PWHL in October. 

By Nov. 29, teams will be required to trim their rosters down to no more than 27 players. After that, the league's first waiver window will open. Teams will have from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 to offer contracts to free agents who have been released by other teams.

Final rosters, which include 23 players on contract and two reserve players, must be set by Dec. 11. A second waiver window will open just before then, offering teams another chance to sign free agents released by other teams.

Players who