Latest The Athletic mock draft brings an underwhelming 2nd round Oilers pick

Even as the dust still clears from the ultimately heartbreaking Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers have no time to sit back and reflect. In line with critics saying the season lasts too long, the draft begins in earnest on Friday in Las Vegas.

The Oilers only have one draft pick in the first four rounds. However, because it's a second rounder, at least there is a chance of selecting someone with good upside and decent odds of making it all the way to the NHL.

As is now the norm in the lead-up to drafts -- days, weeks, and even months beforehand -- various media outlets like to put together mock drafts, to try and determine who will go when, and where. In many respects it's a futile task, but still intriguing at the same time.

Last time with The Athletic

Along these lines, The Athletic has performed a couple of mock drafts, with the results being open to debate for Oilers fans specifically. Which we appreciate is one of the main reasons for undergoing such an endeavour in the first place.

The first one saw Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler sending Mississauga Steelheads centre Luke Misa to the Oilers, albeit for what it's worth, at that point with the 62nd rather than 64th pick in the draft. Coming off a career year, Misa would either be a steal or average; Steven Ellis of the Daily Faceoff placed him at 47th in April, whereas NHL.com had him ranked as the 76th North American skater.

The Athletic's second mock draft was completed by Pronman alone -- and kudos to him for doing every pick for all seven rounds -- and on this occasion he had the Oilers taking Marcus Gidlöf, a goalie from Sweden. Considered a high risk/reward pick, Gidlöf doesn't rank particularly well in scouting reports as such, but people are fascinated by his size and potential to develop as he matures.

At the third time of picking ...

Now, with the draft mere days away, Wheeler has done one final mock draft for the first two rounds, but his Oilers' pick in the second round might be the least inspiring of the three. This time he has selected Tomas Lavoie, a blue-liner from the Cape Breton Eagles.

While Wheeler acknowledges Lavoie has not developed into the stud prospect anticipated by some, he still expects the defenceman to selected around this point of the draft. So what exactly would the Oilers be getting?

The 18-year-old is all about defence, both in respect of how good he can be in this area, but also with respect to his limited offensive game. His ceiling seems to be that of a shutdown player on a third pairing in the NHL.

As per Elite Prospects, Lavoie's drop in stock is mostly reflected in his rankings among the various hockey media outlets. FC Hockey places him 84th, TSN's Craig Button ranks him 86th and The Hockey News puts him at 111.

Heck, Lavoie is even ranked as low as 156th and 157th in a couple of instances. However, it's not all terrible, with Draft Prospects Hockey placing him 37th and TSN's Bob McKenzie putting him 52nd.

Overall, Lavoie does not come with the same level of reputation and/or intrigue as Misa or Gidlöf, but this does not mean he doesn't have some value. You do have to wonder ultimately though in which direction the Oilers will go come draft time, given the three players The Athletic picked for them play in different positions from each other.

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