Conflicting reports on rumored trade between Habs and Blue Jackets.

There are rumblings around the National Hockey League of a potential trade brewing between the Montreal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets, but the seriousness of those claims varies greatly based on who is reporting them.

Reports have emerged out of Russia suggesting that Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kirill Marchenko is on the verge of being traded, with Marchenko of course being a Russian-born NHL forward. It remains unclear where Marchenko could be headed, but the Canadiens were specifically mentioned in the report as a team that had previously expressed interest in Marchenko, and may have even tried to acquire him earlier this summer.

"Kirill Marchenko is expected to be traded by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the near future, according to a source close to the Russian forward, even as talks appear to be picking back up after a summer of mixed signals," wrote Daria Tuboltseva of RG Media.

There have been rumblings for weeks now surrounding Marchenko which does lend a great deal of credibility to these rumors, however there are now conflicting reports.

On Sunday, Blue Jackets insider Aaron Portzline took to social media to pour cold water on the rumors, stating that "nothing" was going on involving Marchenko. Portzline did acknowledge the reports out of Russia to the contrary, but despite that has indicated that his sources do not believe the Blue Jackets are in the process of trading Marchenko.

Only time will tell if Marchenko is indeed traded this summer, but the one thing that is certain is that there is suddenly an unusual and disproportionate amount of trade talk around this player. Make of that what you will.