(VOORHEES) - When it’s the baseline for a rookie trying to make the NHL for the first time, preseason games mean the world.

For a veteran of 274 NHL games, two goals in two games are almost meaningless.

That’s the message that Brayden Schenn has gotten so far from the Flyers. Last year, the natural center was a candidate to be the first line left wing in training camp. This year, he’s typically been on a line with two players who weren’t even NHL regulars last season.

Things aren’t heading down a good road for Schenn, 24, to the point where when reporters approached him, he joked that he could pose the questions in addition to the answers.

“You want to be playing with— nothing against the guys I’m playing with, absolutely not,” said Schenn, whose usual linemates in camp have been Scott Laughton and Chris Porter. “They’ve played awesome, but at the same time I want to be seen as a key piece of the team moving forward and I guess we’ll see what it comes down to, what it boils down to. Like I said, you go out there and you work hard, be a good teammate and control what you can control. You can’t do more than that.”

This was always going to be a big year for Schenn. When Sean Couturier got an extension from the Flyers in July and Schenn seemed next in line for a new deal, general manager Ron Hextall wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to wait on that and have Schenn earn it.

So far in camp he’s played right wing, where he finished last season, on what appears to be the fifth line even though the Flyers won’t own up to any kind of depth chart yet.

More From 97.3 ESPN