Although it seemed as though Ryan Reynolds and the Remington Group would be the favorites to purchase the Ottawa Senators, the $1-billion bid they put on the table will no longer be going through, according to the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch.

NHL sources confirmed to Postmedia on Thursday that the 46-year-old Vancouver-born actor would be dropping out of the bidding process. The deadline for non-binding bids are due to Galatioto Sports Partners (GSP) next Monday.

“Sources told the newspaper that Reynolds, Bratty and the Remington Group asked GSP, the New York-based banker running the process of selling the franchise, to give them ‘exclusivity' to negotiate with the National Capital Commission and the City of Ottawa to get a deal to build a new rink,” wrote Garrioch on Thursday.

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“It’s believed Remington was looking for a 30-day negotiating window for a new rink. The sense among NHL officials was that it didn't include a guarantee they'd purchase the Senators, but a source insisted Remington was committed to buying the team.”

A league source confirmed that that was never going to happen, as with many other bidders, nobody was going to give them that exclusivity. A source also said that GSP felt the request was “unreasonable.”

Ryan Reynolds first met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly in November, hoping to elevate the franchise's profile with the bid. But it now looks like he won't be involved at all in purchasing the team.

“One source said he was holding out hope that Reynolds would consider joining forces with another group, but it would likely take some time for him to recover from the disappointment of not securing this bid on his own,” wrote The Athletic's Ian Mendes.

Many other bidders have come forward, with Postmedia confirming that seven groups met with Senators chief financial officer Erin Crowe, president of business operations Anthony LeBlanc and general manager Pierre Dorion.

One of those seven groups is Los Angeles-based producer Neko Sparks and legendary artist Snoop Dogg; they reportedly had the highest bid in the first round at more than $900 million.