Florida Panthers Linked to Erik Karlsson as Penguins Explore Trade Options

For the past few months, Erik Karlsson's name has constantly come up in trade rumours around the Pittsburgh Penguins, and now, it seems to be a matter of when, not if he gets traded this off-season.

There have been many teams linked to the 35-year old veteran thus far, and unsurprisingly given what he can still do on the ice, there's expected to be many contenders around the league to show interest in him.

While no specific team has yet emerged as the front runner for Karlsson, reporter Jeff Marek suggested a very interesting suitor for him recently, noting the Florida Panthers interest in Karlsson dating back a few years now, suggesting that they could look to make a run at him again in the near future.

Marek may not have stated that the Panthers have pursued him this off-season, but he notes how much they've wanted him in recent years, and with the departure of Nate Schmidt, they could be looking to find a way to get Karlsson on the books finally.

If there's any team that can go out and add another former All-Star to their roster, it's Bill Zito and the Florida Panthers, who continually seem to get better in recent years, but as of right now, even if they are interested, with the team currently $3 million over the salary cap, don't expect it to happen this summer if it is going to happen at all.