Winger Lynden Lakovic met with 25 teams -- including the Penguins -- at the NHL's scouting combine earlier this month. He was anticipating one of the topics that teams kept bringing up in their interviews with him over the course of the week.

"You know, there's some question marks about the consistent compete," Lakovic admitted. "And they're reasonable question marks."

Lakovic needing to bring a more consistent effort is something he's been aware of for a little while now. He started hearing it over the course of the season from teams when they'd come to see him in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, where he plays for the WHL's Warriors. He said that when he watches his own games back, too, he sees what he needs to "clean up" in order to bring that consistency.

In order to move toward that goal, Lakovic started working with a sports psychologist, who he credits with helping him create a more consistent routine, which he thinks will lead to more consistent results. But he knows that ultimately, it comes down to his own efforts.

"Compete is a choice," he said. "And right now, I'm picking my spots to do it, and I just need to make it an all-the-time thing."

For a guy who lacked consistency, Lakovic's overall results last season were still strong. And whichever team picks him in the first round later this month is going to land a big, 6-foot-4, 200-pound scoring winger who might not be too far off from turning pro.

Lakovic, 18, led the Warriors in points (58) and goals (27) last season in 47 games on a rebuilding team, having missed several weeks midseason with a lower-body injury. He credits "playing with a lot of confidence" as the key to his success this past season.

"You look at the year before, I was a middle-six guy on a championship team," he said. "A couple months later, everyone's gone, and now you're the guy. So I always think I had it in me. But I think that just adds to my versatility -- I could really play from the first line to the third line, and I can play any role. That's just what changed this year."

Lakovic's efforts to be "the guy" were noticed and rewarded. He was named captain midseason, filling the void left by Brayden Yager after Yager was traded to Lethbridge.

Regardless of what line he's on, Lakovic thinks his strengths are being a  "200-foot scorer, playing with a lot of skill, confidence and pace. I think I'm really good at transporting the puck up and down the ice, and I play with a lot of hockey IQ." Being 6-foot-4, he's trying to learn to better utilize his size, "get a little more gritty," and get better at going to the net-front. 

Lakovic's not a huge, heavy hitter. But his coach, Mark O'Leary, told NHL.com that he doesn't think Lakovic needs to be that.

"When you have guys with his skill set, you're not necessarily looking for him to run guys over on the forecheck or rack up penalty minutes by slashing guys and having his elbows up," O'Leary said. "It's just getting there in a hurry and finishing on top of a guy, staying in puck battles, and I think he made huge improvements in showing his ability to do that more consistently."

Consensus is that Lakovic will hear his name called somewhere in the No.10-20 range of the first round. One benefit of drafting Lakovic would be that because he has three full WHL seasons under his belt, he'd be eligible to play in the AHL after next season, whereas most players coming from major junior will need two more seasons before gaining AHL eligibility.

There's a lot to like about Lakovic, with his size and production. But concerns with his consistency could cause him to drop in the draft order.