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Friendly reminder to Flyers fans -- stay patient

Claude Giroux

Claude Giroux

AP

The Philadelphia Flyers are not a very good team.

They’re better than they played last night versus Colorado, but still, they’re not very good.

This was to be expected. And, frankly, it’s for the best, given the quality of the upcoming draft. The Flyers do have a number of good prospects, particularly on defense. But they could use another blue-chip forward, and guess what, that’s where the strength of the 2016 class lies.

To any frustrated Flyers fans, what you see on the ice this year, that is not going to be your team for long. The entire blue line could be different in a couple of seasons. Up front, R.J. Umberger’s contract will expire in the summer of 2017, Vincent Lecavalier’s the summer after. Maybe there’s a way to get rid of those deals sooner, but don’t count on it.

This is where GM Ron Hextall and owner Ed Snider need to stay patient, even if it stinks to be wasting the prime scoring years of Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, and Jakub Voracek. Those three should still be pretty good in a couple of years. And if all (or even most) goes to plan, they’ll have a lot more help.