The Pittsburgh Penguins are a simple story.

It’s not a very good roster.

Evgeni Malkin getting hurt triggered the Penguins losing eight straight. But Malkin’s absence wasn’t responsible for their four late-game collapses during those eight defeats.

Which felt worse, squandering those leads or getting shut out both games of the dads’ trip? The Penguins must really hate their fathers. The effort and execution were minimal.

Right now, everything is wrong with the Penguins. There’s not one good sign.

When they broke their losing streak with a 4-3 shootout win over visiting Montreal on Sunday, they blew two leads. They got outplayed badly in the third period and overtime. The Penguins haven’t had a win in regulation since Dec. 4.

The Penguins’ 9-4-2 start was the worst thing that could have happened.

It was fool’s gold. It was poison.

It made the team and coach dream too much about the playoffs. Between that and Sidney Crosby’s agent saying his client has an inalienable right to be in the postseason, it skewed priorities.

It’s supposed to be a developmental year. But youth has not been served.

Sergei Murashov is the Penguins’ best goalie. But he’s with their Wilkes-Barre/Scranton farm club. If that’s best for his development, fine. But that contradicts what’s going on in Pittsburgh.

They mangled defenseman Harrison Brunicke with their indecision about keeping him with the Penguins or sending him back to Major Junior. His last game for the Penguins was Nov. 3. After a bunch of healthy scratches, Brunicke went to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a “conditioning assignment,” exercising a loophole so he didn’t have to return to junior. Between his last game with the Penguins and joining Canada’s team for the World Junior Championships, Brunicke played five games in seven weeks. That can’t be good for anything, let alone Brunicke’s confidence.

Center Ben Kindel is off the top power play in favor of journeyman Anthony Mantha. Despite Kindel having the best power-play instincts on the team. It could be argued that in Malkin’s absence, the Penguins need a left-handed player out there. Fine. Use Kindel instead of Rickard Rakell. Or Bryan Rust. He’s better on the power play than either.

Winger Ville Koivunen being marginalized is understandable. He’s not been productive: one goal in 23 games. But does he help less than Noel Acciari, Connor Dewar, Kevin Hayes, etc.? Even if he doesn’t, Koivunen has much more upside than a below-the-line veteran who won’t improve.

Why are bummy vets plodding in Pittsburgh while energetic kids like Tristan Broz and Avery Hayes are playing in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton?

Rutger McGroarty is the only one of the Penguins’ kids who is being deployed 100% properly.

The result is that the youthful energy and enthusiasm that marked the season’s early days has been sucked out of the Penguins. Now the team belongs to below-the-line veterans as much as anybody.

Coach Dan Muse looks to have been duped by all that.

He seems to be in his over his head, appearing befuddled on the bench a la Mike Johnston during his brief tenure coaching the Penguins from 2014-15. (Johnston’s Penguins also came out of the gate hot at 22-6-4.)

Ironically, the veterans he’s appeasing don’t appear to be buying in.

The dressing room reportedly has its knickers in a twist over Tristan Jarry being traded. A goalie who never won a playoff series for the Penguins and was directly implicated in losing at least two. If he’s a good guy, who cares? But the Penguins often crucify themselves via the unbreakable bond of eternal brotherhood.

So priorities have been skewed. The rebuild is being compromised.

But the good news is, it’s still possible to get a lot of balls in the lottery to draft Gavin McKenna.

The weird news is, the Penguins are just two points out of a playoff berth. After losing eight straight. Ah, the magic of the loser point.

Have a safe trip home, dads.

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