6.5 percent and 6.7 percent.

Those are the chances, respectively, that the Flyers could nab the first or second pick in next month’s NHL Draft.

It would also solve the one question that no one connected with the Flyers has been able to adequately answer for years: How are you going to acquire the high-end, top-of-the-lineup talent the NHL club so desperately lacks?

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Today, of course, is draft lottery day. Fifteen teams, in theory, could “win” the lottery, though only 11 have a chance of securing the No. 1 selection, while 12 clubs could nab No. 2. And they all know what prizes loom for the winners: Connor Bedard, a potential generational superstar, and Adam Fantilli, a mere run-of-the-mill nearly-certain-to-be franchise player.

The Flyers are in the mix for both. Given their place as the league’s seventh-worst team in 2022-23, they have the seventh-best odds to nab either pick. Is it likely that when the ping-pong balls settle, the Flyers will be one of the winners? Nah. Is it possible? Of course.

They just need luck. A lot of it. And the need for more luck than six other clubs goes back to the decisions made by the Philadelphia front office last summer.

After all, they could have chosen a different path during the 2022 offseason. Entering a season with a stacked draft looming, the Flyers could have chosen to gut their roster and commit fully to a rebuild the way that the Chicago Blackhawks did, with the goal of best positioning themselves for the top-tier talent expected to be available at the end of the line.

The Flyers, of course, did not do that. In fact, in many ways, they did the opposite. Former GM Chuck Fletcher didn’t trade a single veteran for future assets; in fact, he expended assets to acquire Tony DeAngelo, in an ultimately misguided attempt to fix the club’s blue line corps. But most importantly, they hired John Tortorella as head coach — the man famous for getting the most out of talent-deficient clubs and functionally the most anti-tank coach available. The message that hire sent was that the Flyers would not be bottoming out in an attempt to pick at the top of the draft, at least not intentionally.

But that doesn’t change the reality of their situation. The Flyers as an organization are chock-full of players who would fit comfortably in the middle or bottom of a Stanley Cup-contending lineup. They just don’t have the stars that would push them down to their ideal spots. Only 2022 No. 5 pick Cutter Gauthier appears to have that kind of upside in the pipeline, and he’s far from a sure thing to reach star-level territory.

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So how will they get the kinds of players needed to match Auston Matthews, Jack Hughes, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, David Pastrnak, Adam Fox and Matthew Tkachuk in the Eastern Conference? And get them quickly enough so that the quality “youth” on the team — Owen Tippett, Noah Cates, Cam York and yes, even Carter Hart — are still at least at the tail-end of their prime years when it happens?

Two possible ways — and both involve a lot of luck.

First, the Flyers could nab an immediate-impact star with a draft pick not in the top two or three. Assuming they have fully committed to their rebuild, the Flyers are going to be finishing in the sixth to 14th range (in terms of worst record) for quite a few years most likely. They certainly could stumble upon a Tkachuk (sixth) or Charlie McAvoy (14th) or Quinn Hughes (seventh) or Trevor Zegras (ninth) in that range.

Or, they could win a lottery. And this, given the quality at the top, would be the perfect one to win.

A lottery win would get the Flyers their star, their much-needed centerpiece — definitely in the case of Bedard, probably in the case of Fantilli. And in turn, that acquisition would dramatically speed up the rebuilding timeline.

After all, despite all of the understandable doomsaying from Flyers fans, it’s not like the team lacks talent. Travis Konecny would be the perfect fit as the third or fourth best forward on a contender. Tippett looks like a top-sixer with 30-plus goal upside. Cates is a play-driving defensive dynamo. Cam York is developing into a clear-cut top-four defenseman. Tyson Foerster impressed in a big way during his late-season audition. The Flyers have good players. They just don’t have top-of-the-lineup, star-level players.

Get one of those guys at the top of the 2023 draft, and suddenly, the lineup starts to click together, at least on paper.

Next season would probably still be rough. Bedard/Fantilli would be transitioning to the NHL, Gauthier wouldn’t be in Philadelphia yet and the team’s blue line corps would still be seriously deficient. But in 2024-25, they’d be looking at a forward group with legitimate pop, if just a few things break their way:

Gauthier – Bedard/Fantilli – Konecny
Farabee – Couturier – Tippett
Frost – Cates – Foerster
Laughton – Desnoyers – Allison

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Suddenly, there’s little reason to discuss trading Hart because of fears that the rebuild could last through the rest of his 20s. Even the idea of keeping Konecny rather than trading him starts to make more sense, though the risk of overpaying him on his next contract still remains. That’s a young forward corps (average age in 2024: 24.6) that could be the foundation of a legitimately competitive team, particularly with prime-age Hart and Sam Ersson backstopping them.

Now, the roster wouldn’t be a slam-dunk contender, of course. The defense would still need serious work — though two first-round picks in 2024 would help a lot in that regard, whether by prioritizing blueliners with the picks or using them to trade for an established one. It’s possible that Sean Couturier could be a shell of himself upon his return from his back surgeries, or that he suffers a re-injury and is no longer in the picture.

But in terms of high-end talent — particularly up front — they’d be getting there. Bedard, Gauthier, Konecny and let’s say 80 percent of peak Couturier forms a good starting point, with Tippett and Foerster potentially joining the high-end group if they continue to develop and improve. Suddenly, players are slotting in more or less where they should. Konecny isn’t being asked to carry the scoring load. Cates can be the shutdown center or play-driving winger instead of a top-six staple. Scott Laughton can be the gritty bottom-sixer with skill instead of getting the second-most ice time among Flyers forwards.

A lottery win, and it all starts to make sense.

If the Flyers don’t win — which again, is the most likely scenario? Well, it’s back to needing good luck, but this time in terms of unearthing a top-of-the-lineup star-level talent at No. 7, 8 or 9 in this draft.

Not exactly the most reassuring strategy.

In fairness to the Flyers, even the teams at the top of the lottery board are going to need good luck on Monday night. Anaheim, who finished with the league’s worst record, actually has a better chance (55.7 percent) of missing out on both Bedard and Fantilli than getting one of them, even if Leo Carlsson or Matvei Michkov would be a solid consolation prize. That’s the nature of the NHL draft these days, given the lottery rules.

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But the Flyers — intentionally and purposely — avoided maximizing their chances for good luck today. The front office’s plan was to try to win as many games as possible in 2022-23, and in turn, hope that the hockey gods looked upon them with favor come lottery day and rewarded them for their integrity.

The result is that today, six teams have better chances of nabbing the type of player that the Flyers so desperately need. Perhaps luck will indeed smile upon the Flyers on Monday night, and solve the biggest conundrum facing the club in their rebuild. But if it doesn’t, the Flyers only need to look into a mirror and evaluate their past decisions to understand why.

(Photo of Bill Daly: Mike Stobe / NHLI via Getty Images)