Mark Madden: Here's what makes Kyle Dubas a great hire for Penguins

Kyle Dubas is the Penguins’ new president of hockey operations. It’s a great hire. I told you it would be in March.

Here’s what I like:

• Dubas isn’t some blockhead ex-player hanging on by way of a second act. At 37, he’s a career executive. Dubas learned the craft in Major Junior hockey, starting at 26. He rose quickly through the ranks. Ex-players do well as hockey execs, not least Craig Patrick and Jim Rutherford. But in Pittsburgh, the time seems right for Dubas’ ilk.

• Dubas has a reputation for detailed planning, a concise vision that can be explained. As opposed to his predecessor, who couldn’t even put his thoughts on paper.

• Dubas has no ties to anyone in the Penguins’ organization. Nobody can get into his feels. Ex-Penguins assistant GM Jason Botterill would have been a good hire. But he’d have had too much familiarity upon returning to the organization. Everybody would immediately refer to him as “Botsy.” Different is required. No favors. Dubas won’t rule with an iron fist. But he will be clinical. (I’m guessing Dubas’ nickname is “Dooby.”)

• Dubas did a good job in Toronto. Just not good enough for an unhinged fan base that hasn’t won a Stanley Cup in 56 years. The Maple Leafs had 111 points this season, 115 the prior season. The Penguins had 104 and 111, respectively, en route to Stanley Cups in 2016 and ’17. The playoffs have that crapshoot element. It’s not Dubas’ fault that stars Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares combined for three goals in five games during the Leafs’ second-round loss to Florida.

• Dubas is a disciple of analytics. But he’s not handcuffed by them. They’re seen as a valuable tool and not yet emphasized enough with the Penguins. But Dubas isn’t geeky about analytics. They’re a significant part of a big picture.

• Dubas will have an organized thought process that will be applied with consistency, conviction and connection. His predecessor was haphazard. All over the place.

• Dubas presents well. His introductory press conference had more coherence, charisma and insight than the entirety of his predecessor’s tenure. (You may be getting the notion that I don’t believe Ron Hextall provided a tough act to follow.) I was ready to buy a used car, insurance, non-stick cookware, whatever Dubas was selling.

• Dubas is in the right place. He fits the Fenway Sports Group mold perfectly. He’s said to have autonomy over the roster and direct communication with FSG.

• Dubas heralds legitimate change, not a holding pattern. If you could sum up the Penguins’ flaws the past half-decade in one word, it would be “stale.” The same players under the same coach playing the same way and losing via the same mistakes. If Dubas doesn’t fix that, he will have failed.

It won’t be perfect. It won’t be easy.

When Dubas talks about contending and rebuilding at the same time, well, we’ve heard that before. It can’t be done.

Here’s betting that, after a bit, Dubas concludes which direction is most feasible and plunges headlong in appropriate fashion.

It’s OK to hit rock bottom. Teams that never do remain mired in mediocrity. It just needs to be navigated properly and as quickly as possible.

For Dubas to fix the Penguins, it’s likely that he’ll make moves that are unpopular with the fans and locker room. Like trading Jake Guentzel, perhaps.

But when Rutherford got the GM job in 2015, he almost immediately swapped winger James Neal to Nashville for winger Patric Hornqvist. Not a popular deal when it was made. Went against the Penguins’ grain. Helped win two Stanley Cups.

While Toronto’s GM in 2019, Dubas sent washed-up Patrick Marleau and a first-round pick to Carolina for practically nothing to ditch Marleau’s fading talent and onerous cap hit. Transactions like that might be necessary in Dubas’ new job. (Marleau waived his no-movement clause. Dubas had better remember how to pitch that.)

Lots of work looms quickly.

Deciding about pending free agents Tristan Jarry and Jason Zucker.

Extending or trading Guentzel, who’s got one year left on his contract.

Buying out Mikael Granlund seems a good place to start cutting dead weight and gaining cap space. Then trade Jeff Petry.

Will there be conflict with coach Mike Sullivan and his stubborn methodology? He and Dubas must be on the same page. (Dubas prefers Sullivan’s attacking style, by the way. But do the Penguins have the components to keep playing it?)

Pittsburgh feels like a good spot for Dubas.

Nobody’s going to win in Toronto. If the Leafs think they’re close, they’re wrong. Losing is in their DNA. Winning is part of the Penguins’ makeup. Not always. It sometimes gets despicably bad. But it ultimately comes back to winning.

The pressure in Pittsburgh is one-tenth of what it is in Toronto. Pittsburgh is a hockey town, but at a manageable level. The Steelers serve as a buffer.

Let Dubas do what he does. He’ll get it right. He’s new age. He’s Theo Epstein. He’s bold. When it comes to execs, the Penguins thrive on bold.

This isn’t just for now. This isn’t just for later. It’s a new world order.