The Penguins have long been stuck in the NHL’s mushy middle. Not good enough to make a playoff run, not bad enough to get truly impactful draft picks.

But now that mushy middle has turned into quicksand.

The Penguins can’t escape.

That evidence was presented once the NHL’s off-season kicked into gear.

President of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas couldn’t make any significant moves, and it wasn’t for lack of desire.

The Penguins lacked trade capital compared to other teams.

The Penguins’ first-round pick was a ho-hum No. 22 overall.

Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell have passed their sell-by dates at ages 34 and 33, respectively. Dubas would be lucky to get a second-round pick for either.

Dubas likely planned to take runs at players like defenseman Simon Nemec (who moved from New Jersey to Calgary) and center Mason McTavish (Anaheim to St. Louis).

Nemec is 22, McTavish 23, Both are former first-round picks with untapped potential and fit the description of what Dubas wants.

But Nemec fetched two first-round picks and a second, McTavish two first-rounders.

The market got set too high.

It’s disappointing that Dubas wasn’t in for explosive winger Pavel Dorofeyev, who went from Vegas to the New York Rangers for a first, a conditional first and a third. This year’s first was at No. 26, not very early. Dorofeyev, 25, is a legit sniper and a steal at that price.

There was never any chance of getting 26-year-old star winger Jason Robertson from Dallas, as this space fantasized.

The Penguins don’t have the trade capital to get Robertson’s rights from Dallas.

Signing Robertson when he hits restricted free agency on July 1 would cost them four first-round picks.

Robertson will command upwards of $15 million per on a seven-year contract (eight years if you do a sign-and-trade).

Robertson wouldn’t want to come to Pittsburgh. It’s not a destination franchise like it was 10 years ago.

The Penguins had what appears to be a decent draft, but who knows? None of those picked will arrive for at least 2-3 years.

Getting twins Liam and Markus Ruck with the first two picks is worthwhile. They’re smart and skilled, and the whole could be greater than the sum of the parts.

But will they be the Sedins or the Ferraros? (Or maybe the Shenderoviches. Let’s hope they score 40, not 25.)

Exacerbating Dubas’ dilemma is that Washington, which didn’t make the playoffs, made moves in an attempt to win now, which they probably won’t. They got a couple of top-six forwards in Jordan Kyrou from St. Louis and Alex Tuch from Buffalo.

Dubas will hear about that. “The call is coming from inside the house!”

The Penguins won’t pick a direction, continuing to pursue the impossibility of contending and rebuilding at the same time but doing neither.

Old doesn’t improve.

Old can’t be built upon.

Will a bland start to this off-season force Dubas to finally choose a path?

Given contracts and no/limited-movement clauses, it’s tough to pick rebuilding. It’s difficult to strip assets.

But Dubas could never acquire enough to win now.

Dubas could gut his system and future drafts but still not get enough to compete with Eastern Conference powers like Buffalo, Florida, Montreal and Stanley Cup champion Carolina. Washington may leapfrog the Penguins.

Further complicating is that the new owners don’t want to come in and lose, or run off franchise legends. (As when Fenway Sports Group bought the Penguins in 2021.)

More than anything, the Penguins are old.

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson are all 36 or older.

Their talent and accomplishments duly noted, that’s a one-way ticket to Palookaville.

The Penguins will wallow in quicksand and become further trapped.

It was magic to see Crosby back in the playoffs.

But how did it end?

A first-round playoff loss was not worth picking so late in the draft.

Won’t have a playoff run, won’t bottom out.

Same old story.

Quicksand.