Scott Laughton gives Flyers a look into the future

Scott Laughton is the forgotten first-round pick.

Selected 20^thoverall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2012 Entry Draft, the center has taken a backseat to the two heralded defensemen that were picked by the club in the past two years.

Sam Morin, who has been compared to Chris Pronger and almost broke camp with the team, was drafted eighth overall in 2013, while 2014 selection Travis Sanheim impressed the brass in training camp.

Meanwhile, Laughton flew under the radar despite a solid camp and was sent to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

However, the 20 year old is slowly re-entering the picture.

After posting six goals and 11 points in 13 games with the Phantoms, he was called up by the Flyers on Tuesday night as a fill-in for Claude Giroux, who was expected to miss Wednesday and Thursday’s game with a lower body injury but ended up playing.

Laughton played just 7:00 against the Rangers on Wednesday but was given 10:53 of ice time on Thursday against the Wild and made it count. He finished with three shots, another three that were blocked, a takeaway and won four-of-six face-offs. In Saturday’s win over the Blue Jackets, he was on the ice for almost 13 minutes and had three shots, six hits and won half his faceoffs.

“Yeah I felt good,” he said Thursday. “I thought I was skating pretty well and I tried to be physical.”

Laughton centered Vinny Lecavalier and R.J. Umberger on the third line and left a good impression.

“I thought Scott played really well,” Flyers coach Craig Berube said. “He skated, competed and had a heavy stick. He looked good out there.”

Although it’s only a small sample size so far, Laughton has made it difficult for the Flyers to send him back to the Phantoms.

And he is shedding the forgotten label as well.

“He was outstanding (Thursday),” Jakub Voracek said. “He was great defensively, was skating very well, was confident on the puck and (is showing) he is a really good player.”