First off, welcome back! I've been putting in some monthly numbers, trying to see how many 100+ post months the members have had over the years and noticed your name yesterday and wondered where you'd been
Right off the bat, I looked at your roster and thought - yep, those are worthy keepers and -yep, I can see where things went wrong.
Trade 1 - awesome
Trade 2 - you didn't get nearly enough for Thornton. I don't like that deal at all.
Trade 3 - you did pretty good...but again, did Kessel get your enough? Probably...I'd need to study the rules
Awesome UFA pickups - wow. That will make sure your rebuild is a short one.
Your keepers are the right ones