Big prices to pay but definitely a good team

They already lost a good chunk of the younger fan base, the money they get from revenue sharing from not spending makes up for it. Buchnevich and Karlsson probably aren't waiving/signing with Buf.

Savoie + 2nd should be enough for William

Not sure if Army bites, but you are barking up the right tree offering the 1st + Novikov. I'd probably ask to swap in a similar level prospect in for Krebs, but that's the only note I have. Some Blues fans will be satisfied with Krebs there.

Buchnevich and Karlsson only have 12 and 10 team NTCs, let's say 7 of those spots are used up on Canadian teams (which seems pretty common) that only leaves 5 and 3 teams they can't be traded to. So there's a decent chance Buffalo makes the cut.

its true for some players but not for all. NHLPA survey had the sabres as the team players least wanted to play for. Even if I granted your premise odds are much higher than you realize that BUF would be one of the 5 or 3 non canadian teams.

They had to give Clifton over 3 million dollars and term to sign with them. That pretty much says it all lol.