So Mullen was traded to make amends for an embarrassing 1st round exit in 1990 and Nilsson was traded to make amends for an embarrassing 1st round exit in 1985. Mullen trade was knee jerk and reactionary because he continued on and had many more successful years, Nilsson trade was sage because it showed foresight in properly predicting his decline.
I think what happened is the early 90's were a tough time for the owners. For years they had their guy Eagleson in there screwing the players with their deal that the Eagle would keep salaries down compared with gains in the other big 3 sports and more importantly keep free agency the heck out of hockey and the Eagle would get International hockey to build up his fortune. When guys like Ed Garvey got in there and helped expose how the Eagle was screwing these guys the writing was on the wall that salaries were going to increase. Flames got rid of guys like Mullen and Gilmour for a variety of reasons but one of the biggest was the days of artificially low salaries was over.
I would pick Theo if it was still open though, guy was skilled and all heart.
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