Penguins Conference Rival Officially Out on Erik Karlsson

The Pittsburgh Penguins were meant to be big sellers coming into the off-season, and while there's plenty of time before training camp begins, thus far, things have been rather quiet on the trade front, especially on veterans Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson.

Unfortunately for the Penguins and the fans that were hoping for the team to be aggressive sellers, things haven't changed, with the latest update on the trade interest of Erik Karlsson not being positive news for the Penguins.

According to Shayna Goldman of The Athletic, the Penguins options have dwindled in recent times, with both Carolina and Florida now likely out on acquiring Karlsson, with Ottawa likely to wait to see how things play out with Jordan Spence before re-igniting trade speculation.

While the Penguins may not have been looking at any of these three teams as genuine trade partners for the veteran Karlsson, seeing potential candidates like this pull out certainly isn't ideal, as the bidding war for interested teams will now see a lot less value in a potential return for the veteran defenseman.

Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, the three-time Norris Trophy winner just doesn't have the value that he once did, and while there's a chance that a team is ready to pay up, unless someone gets desperate around training camp, things aren't looking good for a significant return.