Mark Madden: Can Kyle Dubas work miracles for the Penguins this week?

When Jim Rutherford was Penguins GM, you knew what he’d do: A lot.

When Ron Hextall was Penguins GM, you knew what he’d do: Often something stupid.

But now, with Kyle Dubas as the team’s president of hockey operations and a very important week ahead, it’s hard to draw a bead on what will happen.

The NHL draft is Wednesday. Free agency starts Saturday.

When Dubas spoke to the media Friday, he said the Penguins would not trade their first-round pick (14th overall) or any of their (very few) prospects.

Dubas also said the Penguins would not exercise any buyouts. That leaves the dilemma of how to dump forward Mikael Granlund. Buying out Granlund would give the Penguins a dead cap hit of $1.8 million in each of the three years after the coming season but would free up $4.1 million in cap space for 2023-24.

Dubas seems unlikely to go back on what he said, especially so immediately. (But how can the Penguins keep Granlund, the poster boy for last season’s failure?)

So it makes one wonder if Dubas and the organization really believe the Penguins can win now. Because if they did, the moves Dubas is ruling out are exactly the sort of moves the Penguins would make.

As this space has stated, the Penguins are unlikely to make another serious playoff run with the core of Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin. That’s no reflection on those three. They did their part last season. But the Penguins still missed the postseason for the first time since 2006. The roster built around them is too flawed.

The best chance to dig out quickly involves making moves Dubas says he won’t.

That’s unless Dubas can work miracles. Don’t dismiss that possibility.

But it’s impossible to contend and rebuild at the same time. Perhaps Dubas will hedge his bets till the coming season’s trade deadline. If the Penguins don’t look like some semblance of a real contender by then, maybe a legit rebuilding process starts. A few players might be asked to waive their no-movement clauses.

That’s a reasonable read of what Dubas said. Let’s see what he does.

Meantime, the fates of the Penguins’ pending unrestricted free agents must be settled.

Goaltender Tristan Jarry’s next contract will likely approximate six years at $6 million per. He’s disappointed the Penguins too frequently in terms of availability and performance in the clutch. Jarry, 28, should be allowed to walk. There’s no shortage of OK goalies who could be signed cheaper.

Winger Jason Zucker is a good fit. He’s talented and adds a spark. He missed only four games this past season. But in the three campaigns prior, Zucker was injured too often. At the right price and term, yes. But Zucker, 31, can get more elsewhere and this is his last chance to cash in.

Defenseman Brian Dumoulin, 31, won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins, playing a key role. But he’s not been the same since ankle and knee surgeries. He’d be worth keeping as a bottom-pair defenseman on an inexpensive one-year deal. But as a two-time Cup winner, contending teams could see more value. If Dumoulin stays, coach Mike Sullivan might too often default to Dumoulin as Letang’s partner.

The Penguins are stale. There needs to be change. I may have mentioned that a couple hundred times. But only because they’ve been stale for a couple hundred weeks.

The rest of the Penguins’ unrestricted free agents are small potatoes. It would be better to let them go, if only to effect change.

In terms of trades Dubas might make or free agents he might sign, who knows?

I liked New Jersey center Erik Haula for a bottom-six role and Chicago center Andreas Athanasiou because of his speed. But each re-upped with his respective club instead of hitting free agency.

Dubas might have to give up positive assets to ditch negative assets. How else to dump Granlund if he’s not bought out?

Dubas could also maintain cap space to leave more flexibility at the trade deadline.

I said Dubas was the right man for the Penguins’ job more than three months ago.

That’s because I knew it wouldn’t be an easy job.

Dubas got a seven-year deal at $5 million per.

That’s because owners Fenway Sports Group knew it wouldn’t be an overnight job.