Elliott Friedman is the one who said Avs would be "all in" this year, but he was just speculating because he doesn't really have connections to Colorado since the organisation is very tight-lipped in general whether it is about injuries, trades, or contracts.
Sakic's M.O. is to be patient and wait for good deals, and he tends to use non-prime assets in trades (eg. 2nd + 3rd for Burakovsky), and also looks to get value by weaponising capspace (eg. 2nd + Orpik buyout for Grubauer, or retaining 50% on Barrie). I'd be surprised if he moved #24 in what is very much a buyers market, unless it's in a package deal for an elite and/or young player.
Kaut got a 9 game call up in March and looked very good. I know it'll probably get sneered at, but Kaut is very much a player who plays better with better players, especially in a system. The AHL is very individualistic rather than systems/team oriented which hurt his production. Also note that most of his points were primary points. For an example of his skill watch some tape of him from the WJC on a line with Zadina and Necas, he was great with them.
RW is his primary position, but he's also played C on the PP, and can also play LW though RW is much more common.
Malkin and Crosby aren't getting any younger, and the last two postseasons (where Pittsburgh has been swept by NYI and bumped out by Montreal for like 1 win in their last 10 playoff games) don't bode well.