PITTSBURGH — In Toronto, Kyle Dubas' mandate was to make a good team something more than that. He failed. The 105-point club he inherited won all of one playoff series in five years, falling short largely because Dubas never got the goaltending right.

In Pittsburgh, Dubas' mandate was to try to win immediately with Sidney Crosby. He failed, despite throwing money around like it was ticker tape at a Stanley Cup parade. He still owes Ryan Graves, Tristan Jarry and Erik Karlsson nearly $55 million, if you can believe that. The Graves contract, one of the worst in Pittsburgh sports history, was practically a fireable offense. It made the Jack Johnson signing look like a stroke of genius.

That makes Dubas 0 for 2 when winning is the goal. Let's see how he does with a rebuild, should one ever fully launch around here.

I'll believe this actually is a full rebuild if Dubas trades the likes of Karlsson or Rickard Rakell. Rakell is the easier one to move — and he must be moved by Friday's NHL trade deadline, so long as the return is favorable.

That might mean a first-round pick and a prospect. It might mean a good young NHL player and more. It might mean attaching one of those albatross Dubas contracts to Rakell, who should have been scratched Tuesday in Colorado to ensure he stayed healthy going into the deadline.

That's how obvious it should be that he is on the move, though I'm not sure Dubas is inclined to act.

The bottom-feeding Penguins — with the second-worst goal differential in the NHL — need to be in the business of hoarding more and more draft picks, young NHL players and prospects, not soon-to-be 32-year-old wingers who will likely never sell for a higher price. They don't have that luxury. Dubas has been collecting picks. He needs to collect more, especially first-rounders.

Why wouldn't Rakell fetch a big return? He is perhaps the most enticing forward on the market. Goals are at a premium come playoff time. He scores them. The Chicago Blackhawks just received a windfall for defenseman Seth Jones — who was rated behind Rakell on The Athletic's trade deadline big board. Florida sent a first-round pick and 23-year-old NHL goalie Spencer Knight to Chicago.

Marcus Pettersson and Drew O'Connor fetched a first-round pick, for goodness sake.

At least 13 teams have legitimate designs on a Cup. I would imagine many would love to add a 30-goal winger who is more than a rental, signed to a bargain cap hit of $5 million annually for the next three years. You can thank Ron Hextall for acquiring Rakell and signing him to that deal, even if you can't thank him for much else (then again, it wasn't Hextall who signed Ryan Graves to a lifetime contract and paid Tristan Jarry $27 million to rot in the minors, was it?).

Sure, Dubas could wait until summer to try to trade Rakell, but will Rakell stay healthy for the rest of the season? Will he be as hotly coveted as he might be right now?

Rakell was banged up much of last season and scored just 15 goals. He'd also been underachieving for years in Anaheim when Hextall traded for him, coming off seasons in which he had 18 goals in 69 games, 15 goals in 65 games and nine goals in 52 games. He is healthy and hot right now, with three goals in the four games. This is the time to strike.

The loudest argument I hear against trading Rakell is that Crosby must stay fortified with two good linemates (though I curiously never hear that Evgeni Malkin deserves at least one good linemate).

Tending to the top line on a terrible team is not Dubas' mandate here. His mandate is to give the Penguins their best chance to build a meaningful future. Crosby will still have Bryan Rust if Rakell were dealt. He'd still have the power play, too, to ensure that his amazing point-per-game-every-season streak continues. It's at 19, tied with Wayne Gretzky for the NHL record.

Crosby has 66 points in 62 games. He'll be fine. I don't doubt him.

It's Dubas I doubt.

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