Cut down heavily on the whole fleet pursuit plot and the character conflicts built around it. Maybe use the flight from the First Order fleet to establish that light-speed skip stuff rather than set up the "Holdo Maneuver", so we A. understand what it is, and B. make it a little more relevant. Since the character lessons from Poe's coup attempt and hacker side strategy don't carry over, we wouldn't miss that stuff. Make Luke's lessons to Rey more holistic, and bring more of Leia's Force abilities forward, making it clear that they are both restraining themselves. Leia's abilities can be introduced ahead of time, rather than retroactively revealed to explain where the second lightsaber came from, and Luke's isolation can be made into waiting for the right time or pupil, hence the treasure hunt for the route to his location. Also, get rid of Luke's nepoticidal impulses, since it doesn't really add anything to his or Ren's backstory. I would then end episode 8 at some low point, maybe the on-screen reveal of Palpatine, after the Resistance finally escapes the First Order. In ep 9, trim off a stage or two of the fetch quests.