Kris Letang is an elite defenseman. He finished sixth in the balloting for the NHL’s Norris Trophy (top defenseman) last season.

Letang’s numbers for 2019-20 are strong: 10 goals, 18 assists and plus-7 in 35 games.

His fancy stats are good, too: The Penguins have controlled the puck 54.9% of the time he’s on the ice. That puts Letang in the league’s top 50 (among regulars).

Letang has been second-team NHL All-Star twice. He has made six All-Star Games, including this year’s. He has been part of three Stanley Cup champions in Pittsburgh.

But when Letang has a bad game, he’s a lightning rod for criticism. Immediately after reading the previous paragraph, Letang’s detractors started screaming, “Letang was hurt for the 2017 playoffs! See! The Penguins can win without him!”

They did. But this isn’t 2017. The Penguins don’t have the same depth on defense. (See Trotman, Zach.)

If Letang got hurt, the Penguins have no way to replace his minutes: He leads the team in ice time with an average of 25 minutes, 31 seconds.

They also have no way to compensate for Letang’s points, speed, skill, physicality, special-teams acumen and his ability to be a one-man breakout. Justin Schultz (currently injured) is Letang Lite. John Marino is a revelation but still a rookie.

Letang is as valuable as anybody on the Penguins besides Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and, right now, Tristan Jarry, who leads NHL goalies in everything.

So, why is Letang criticized?

Maybe it’s jealousy because he looks like a movie star. Phil Kessel looks like everyman. Kessel is still popular in Pittsburgh despite being traded (and despite the Penguins obviously benefiting via restoring sound structure in Kessel’s absence).

Maybe it’s because Letang sometimes lets bad go to worse.

When Letang gets off to a poor start, he’s prone to trying to make up for it by doing too much. That was on display in Sunday’s 4-1 home loss to Florida.

The Panthers’ Frank Vatrano blew around Letang to score the game’s first goal just 2:28 in. It was a stunning sight: Letang rarely gets beat in a footrace.

Letang’s night didn’t get better. He made two giveaways, was on the ice for three Florida goals and let his game get complicated.

Coach Mike Sullivan noticed.

“Tanger has the ability to be a difference-maker, and we certainly don’t want to take the stick out of his hands,” Sullivan said after. “But as we say to all of our players, sometimes the best play is a simple play.”

Mostly, Letang has been brilliant this season. He sparkled in Tuesday’s 4-3 win at Las Vegas: Two assists (one a beautiful stretch pass to spring Brandon Tanev behind the Vegas defense), a plus-1 mark, six hits, two blocks and 26:19 of dominance.

Sullivan could help the cause by cutting back Letang’s minutes.

Letang totaled 53-plus minutes playing back-to-back nights this past weekend. That’s too many. But it’s tough to lessen Letang’s load. Schultz is out. It’s tough to further burden Marino because this is his first pro season. Letang feels he plays better when he plays more, and that’s often true (but not always).

Idiotic ideas pile up among the citizens: Move Letang to wing. (This notion is an annual rite and will never be considered.) Trade Letang. (Those suggesting this never have a plan for replacing everything he does.)

Mostly, haters just want to yell words like “liability!” at the top of their lungs. Steelers season just ended. A lot of locals are playing catch-up when it comes to hockey.

Just let Letang be — although the idea of him simplifying his game on occasion isn’t bad. Letang is 32. He doesn’t have to compensate for that every shift, or even every game. But doing so when the Penguins play on back-to-back nights makes sense.

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