VOORHEES — Scott Laughton looked over the Flyers’ roster before the NHL’s expansion draft in June and didn’t like his chances.

The team could only protect seven forwards and Claude Giroux and Valtteri Filppula were locks because of clauses in their contracts. That left five spots and Laughton figured he’d be on the wrong side of a numbers game, possibly heading to Las Vegas as part of the Golden Knights’ selections.

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“The expansion draft was definitely in a lot of guys’ heads, I would say,” Laughton remarked Tuesday, on the ice more than two weeks before the Flyers open training camp. “When I got protected it was a big honor for me.”

The Flyers lost Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to the Golden Knights so the fourth-line center spot is open. Laughton, 23, was groomed for it last season.

He played only two games in the NHL and 60 for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. General manager Ron Hextall said in June that Laughton, “took a step in terms of his dedication, his attachment to the game, his passion for the game, the way he plays the game. I’m excited about Scotty. Scotty’s a good hockey player.”

Because he was a first-round pick in 2012 (and played five games in his draft year before returning to the Oshawa Generals) the expectations were high on Laughton. He was a scorer in junior…but so are most players.

He filled a role for the Phantoms of being a defensive-minded center who can be relied upon for faceoff wins late in games when his team has the lead. He played the penalty kill and not the power play, still putting up 19 goals and 39 points in those 60 AHL games and led the team with a plus-17 rating.

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In July he signed a two-year, $1.925 million contract extension. He is no longer waiver exempt, so if he doesn’t make the Flyers’ roster out of training camp he would have to go unclaimed by every other NHL team before going back to the Phantoms. Mike Vecchione, Laughton’s biggest competition for a roster spot, doesn’t have that hurdle.

“It feels like I was on my entry level (contract) for 10 years,” Laughton joked. “I played in 2012 during the lockout year for five games. Looking back on that it feels like forever ago. I was really young. I’ve played 100 games in both leagues now and kind of learned the ways of both leagues. I’m looking forward to it.”

Laughton got into town on the 20th to get settled in before camp and earn an NHL job again after spending so much of last season in the minors. If he has the most to gain, another Flyer on the ice Tuesday might have the most to lose.

Matt Read is in the last year of a four-year, $14.5 million contract and if he’s not careful there might not be a spot for him in the lineup despite his $3.625 million salary-cap hit. Read, 31, had a career-low 19 points last season and knows it’s a young man’s game.

“The future is bright. You’ve got all these stars and it makes the older guys work harder,” Read said. “It’s always nice to see the young guys given an opportunity and hopefully overall it makes the team better and a chance to make the playoffs.”

Young hot shots like Nolan Patrick and Oskar Lindblom may make life difficult for Read to stick around. He lost five pounds over the summer hoping to make himself faster as he trained at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Most of the offseason he spent on cardio and making sure he can keep up in the league. His speed was one of his best attributes when he signed with the Flyers as a free agent out of Bemidji State University in 2011.

“I think the way this game is trending, it’s smaller, younger, faster,” Read said. “All the slower guys are being kind of weeded out of the league. That’s what Toronto played, they played a fast game. Obviously with their speed they created a lot of offense.”

Read’s biggest issue hasn’t necessarily been speed. He’s lost a step since he was a rookie and had 24 goals and 47 points, a pair of totals that he hasn’t matched since, but in recent years it’s been about his ability to finish.

Last season was his best by the metrics of advanced statistics with a shot attempt rating of plus-134. But the Flyers’ 212 goals on the season were 10th worst in the league and Read didn’t help much in that department.

“Obviously you’ve got to earn your ice time,” he said. “You can’t be given anything in this league. If you don’t perform and show up, don’t expect to get much in return. You’ve got to show up and earn your ice time. That’s kind of why I’m here early is to be in the best shape I can be and on the ice as much as I can and when it comes to Day 1, I’ll be the best I can be and hopefully given the best opportunity to succeed.”

Dave Isaac; 856-486-2479;disaac@gannett.com