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On the first day of the draft, teams select players who they hope will become the centrepieces of their franchise. The following day, the real work begins.

Rounds two through seven of the draft are not flashy. There is no team entourage that walks up to the stage and poses for a group photo with the new employee. Picks come in rapid-fire succession, with teams announcing the selection while seated at their table. The final six rounds lasts only a little longer than the first round alone.

Fans might overlook the second day of the draft, but teams cannot afford to do the same. It is in these rounds where championship rosters are created. Not every team has a chance to pick an obvious franchise star like Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel. It is much more difficult, although just as important, to find the next Shea Weber (49th in 2003), Jamie Benn (129th in 2007) or Ondrej Palat (the fourth-last pick in 2011).

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“We try to average three (NHL) players each draft,” Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray said of the importance of the later rounds. “The teams that get a good first-round player but don’t get anybody after in the draft, they fall behind quickly.”

You do not have to think too long about which teams Murray might be referring to.

The Edmonton Oilers, who traded their second-round pick this year as part of the deal to acquire Griffin Reinhart and were also without one last year, have had just two players in the last seven years (Anton Lander and Martin Marincin) who were drafted in rounds two through seven play more than 82 career games.