Bjugstad can be replaced with Hayton - whoever they value less essentially in this scenario. This team wants to retool with younger high end talent while also remaining competitive to gain fans in a new market. Skinner is a well known name and producer in the league and can produce on the same level or better as Crouse offensively on the wing and can slide into his spot seamlessly. Both players have 3 years left on their contracts, Sabres retain $1.5M on Skinner so they're essentially paying Crouse $5.8M for the next 3 years and Utah pays Skinner $7.5M which is more palatable having so much cap space. Utah get a cost controlled asset in Joki who would be the perfect partner for Valimaki since they have international chemistry and will be on a similar contract. Kulich is on the same exact timeline as Cooley and Geekie (same drafts), who Utah will likely have as their top 2 Cs in the next year or two. Komarov is an underrated RD prospect who is looking to be on an NHL trajectory and the 2025 can go a long way. Biggest issue here is Skinner's NMC, but lets operate in a world where he accepts for the sake of conversation. Utah more or less gives up $1.7M in cap space over the next few years for a solid, cost controlled RD, A high end prospect, a B+ prospect at a premium position, and a 1st. Contracts aside, Crouse probably has slightly more value than Skinner mostly due to age and play style so it isn't too far off

First is top 10 protected. Sabres get a proven goal scoring winger who can play anywhere on the top 3 lines and he brings a major element the Sabres need to the team and don't currently have. Bjugstad/Hayton offer a lot of value to the Sabres to fill the 3C spot.