Mark Madden: The teenagers have helped rejuvenate the Penguins, so keep them around

Ben Kindel has played nine games, Harrison Brunicke seven.

Each of the Penguins’ teenage rookies can play nine NHL games and be returned to his Major Junior team without burning a year of his contract. It’s decision-making time, especially with Kindel right at that deadline.

Brunicke, 19, has struggled lately. The defenseman has been scratched three of the last four games. (That frequency makes it being scratched. Not “load management.”)

Kindel, 18, has played center with great defensive acumen and all-around accountability. He’s not exactly a point machine: Just two goals and no assists. But that part of his game will accelerate, not least when he skates with better linemates.

Kindel should stay. Brunicke should, too.

It’s extremely early, but the Penguins are showing signs of being legit playoff contenders in a weak Eastern Conference.

Kindel is clearly the Penguins’ third-best center. Brunicke is among their top six defensemen.

Their development comes first. But while each has the anxious moments to be expected of a teenager in the NHL, neither shows signs of buckling, being scared or being scarred. They’re mature and level-headed. They can handle the peaks and valleys.

Furthermore, their mere presence has helped rejuvenate the Penguins. Things aren’t stale anymore. The veterans are lit. Kindel and Brunicke personify the youthful energy and change the Penguins have badly needed for some time.

If they leave, that goes with them.

The Penguins can’t afford that. Not after starting 7-2-2.

Kindel and Brunicke help the Penguins win. The future looks bright. But things are going OK right now, too.

If they falter badly, Kindel and Brunicke can go back to Major Junior after the nine-game benchmark. With the NHL salary cap set to zoom, burning a year of their entry-level contract is no big deal.

They can also be loaned to Canada for the World Junior Championships. That takes place Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in St. Paul and Minneapolis. That could be a high-level boost to their progress, albeit at a different level.

Despite Brunicke stumbling a bit, he belongs in the NHL. He’s going to be a top-four defenseman, perhaps at the upper end of that.

Kindel currently has a little more buzz than Brunicke. His ceiling is likely as a No. 2 center. Maybe 25 goals, 70 points in a peak season.

There’s so much that’s good about Kindel and Brunicke.

They’re kids.

They’re real Penguins, not rentals.

They’re invested.

They can play. Big upside.

They’re part of a new beginning.

Winger Ville Koivunen and defenseman Owen Pickering are with the Penguins now, too. Koivunen is 22, Pickering 21.

When a player gets hurt, the Penguins don’t have to call up some bummy veteran retread. They summon the future. At some point, it stays.

Wait until Sergei Murashov gets to Pittsburgh and settles in between the pipes. He’s a star-level goalie.

Here’s a puzzler: If the Penguins remain in the playoff hunt come the new year and Murashov continues to chew up the American Hockey League with the Penguins’ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, should he be promoted?

Because at that point, Arturs Silovs and Tristan Jarry with have done enough to put the Penguins in a good position. Both have done decent so far.

These are good problems to imagine, let alone have.

A new world order is igniting. You can see it. You can feel it.

The Penguins will again be legit contenders for a championship before the Steelers are.

One team has a plan. The other just shows up.