Improvement

Ducks accept

For the sake of Kulikov's back, which appears to have fully recovered, Buffalo should not acquire him. Did not work at all last time. Fabbro really hasn't showed he's an improvement over Jokiharju. Higher ceiling yes but hasn't shown his ability to reach that level

They're not making any major moves this TDL or summer

Kulikov is one of the worst possibilities you could go after. It didn’t work the first time. Stillman was a better option, and they already did that.

Signing Johnson and Levi makes the team better.
Two or three of Kulich, Savoie, Ostlund, Rosen etc, will make the team better.
Adding a year of experience and muscle to the 15 roster players 24 and younger who played at least 20 YTD will make the team better.
Getting the prospects to demonstrate that they are NHL ready will improve their value will improve their trade returns if needed.

It is unlikely either Kulikov or Stillman will put the Sabres into the playofss.