You're not sending enough value to the other teams in both trades. Skinner>Saad so that puts you at a disadvantage. And Faulk is a top 4 RHD and you've just given them some filler picks to replace him, maybe add a Connor Murphy or Jokiharju to go the other way

Patteriotty deal looks ok value wise but you're not giving up enough for Faulk and Skinner. ALthough i don't personally think Chicago should make a move for any of these 3 players in real life.

So now you got skinner patches and schmaltz all need an extension AND all get a raise next year. How do you do it. You’ve already gotten rid of all the contracts you pretty much can.
And then the year after you got to sign Faulk, Crawford, and Debrincat, how do you do it.

Jan Rutta's contract is up, as is Ward's, fire Gustafsson out of a cannon... Boom. Sufficient cap space.

Also, who's in your avatar photo? Looks like a really dorky Rangers prospect trying to emulate Arnold from T2...

Sean Avery bud.

Skinner is a 1 year rental, Saad is not. If you look at their stats, they are very similar plus Skinner is one dimensional while Saad plays a 2 way game. Saad is more valuable then Skinner since he has 3 years left and isn't one dimensional.

Faulk isn't worth more then a mid to late 1st round pick.