The latest Tom Wilson incident is over.

But the implications have the potential to be long-reaching.

The NHL is being nudged back to the era of each team having an enforcer. That doesn’t mean a return to the anarchy of the 1970s. But each team will have a fourth-line goon. The NHL was transitioning from fast to heavy. That transition now figures to occur more quickly and go heavier.

Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ron Hextall and president of hockey ops Brian Burke can read the room. It’s what they prefer anyway, especially Burke.

Coach Mike Sullivan declined to use big, tough winger Ryan Reaves much during Reaves’ brief tenure with the Penguins in 2017-18. When Hextall and Burke get a different (and sadly lesser) version of Reaves, Sullivan might not have a choice this time around.

It stinks. But the Penguins can’t ignore what’s trending. The NHL won’t protect its players from the likes of Wilson. Nor will the players’ union. The NHLPA never thinks of the clobbered. It always defends whoever does the clobbering.

So the players have to police the game, as God intended. Well, Canada’s God, anyway.

When the NHL went on an anti-fighting kick several seasons ago, many GMs eliminated that sort of player from their rosters. That means few teams have a remedy for Wilson. Godzilla gets to rampage through Tokyo unimpeded. History shows again and again …

Wilson pulled his antics Monday when Washington played the New York Rangers. The NHL didn’t suspend him. The teams met again Wednesday and staged an embarrassment to the sport and the league. Neanderthals loved it, which only adds to the shame.

The Rangers issued a statement condemning Wilson and asking for the dismissal of George Parros as the NHL’s director of player safety. Both points were obvious: Wilson is a thug, as was Parros when he played. Putting Parros in charge of NHL discipline is akin to Charles Manson administering the penal code.

But that statement put the Rangers in a bad spot. If they fight Wednesday, they’re hypocrites. If they don’t, they’re soft.

The Rangers chose hypocrisy, and mostly got punched in the mouth for it.

There was a line brawl at the drop of the puck. There were six fights in the first 4 minutes, 14 seconds.

Even if you’re stupid enough to like that concept, you were bored by the actuality because none of those who fought could do it worth a damn. It was a total waste of time. Bob “Battleship” Kelly, the Penguins’ enforcer in the mid-70s, would have skated from fight to fight and knocked everybody out: all six fights, all 12 guys, Wilson included.

Wilson confirmed that he’s a punk Wednesday by chumping out early due to “injury.” Wilson didn’t start the game. A legit tough guy would have insisted.

Real fighters such as Kelly and Bob Probert would have zero respect for Wilson and would kick the snot of him. Wilson is a bully and sociopath. He targets the weak and avoids the hard.

The NHL, its networks and its member teams have handed microphones to far too many ex-goons, who were rapturous over the week’s events. An excrement show excites the lowest-common denominator. Sure, it got people talking and watching.

So would dogfighting. Perhaps ESPN and Michael Vick should talk.

Is any publicity good publicity? Here’s a question to counter that question: The NHL playoffs are near. Instead of discussing Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid, the primary hockey talk revolves around the circus acts of Monday and Wednesday. Is that good for hockey?

Of course it isn’t. But it’s exactly what the NHL wants.

What can the Penguins do to counter Wilson in a playoff series? “Just play,” like Sullivan says? All that did last time is get the Penguins eliminated and Zach Aston-Reese’s jaw broken.

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