NHL insiders pour more gas on the fire in Ottawa.

The situation surrounding the Ottawa Senators is an ugly one and, with human beings being naturally curious creatures, it doesn't sound like the talk around the Senators will be dying down any time soon.

Since the rumors of alleged infidelity from players within the Senators locker room popped up things have only gotten worse with the Senators themselves seemingly pouring gasoline on to the fire and National Hockey League insiders sharing their insights into what may be going on behind closed doors in Ottawa.

The latest comes to us courtesy of the NHL Network's own David Pagnotta, who spoke on the topic recently and revealed that there are at least some elements of the rumors that do appear to be true. Notably, Pagnotta made it clear that he has been hearing talk of a rift between goaltender Linus Ullmark and the Ottawa Senators for weeks now.

"There have been a lot of rumors and there has been a lot of speculation surrounding Ullmark and his personal leave and has his relationship been strained in some fashion," said Pagnotta on The Sheet. "And it sounds like that's the case."

Pagnotta even went so far as to suggest that the timeline of events has lent some credibility to the rumors in the sense that it does make them appear to be believable, with Pagnotta pointing to the fact that he was hearing trade rumors surrounding Ullmark even prior to his leave of absence.

"You see that, you hear that, and you see the personal leave and then all the internet BS all over the place it just all adds up and everyone starts to connect dots," said Pagnotta. "Some of these stories can become a little believable."

Veteran NHL reporter Jeff Marek seemed to echo those sentiments with his own comments during the interview.

"Obviously this rose to a certain level in the organization that it got [people within the Senators organization] upset to the point where Steve Staios felt that he had to put that message out," said Marek. "Which if you're gonna play connect the dots, why did this one rise to that level when other crazy things that we see and hear don't?"

While the Senators have gone out of their way to categorically deny the rumors currently surrounding their team, Pagnotta reports that the talk of a damaged relationship between Ullmark and the Sens organization is very real.

"I had heard, and I didn't just hear it this week I've heard this when he went on personal leave and even a little bit prior, there's been a little bit of tension with respect to his relationships in the club," said Pagnotta. "I don't know the specifics, I don't know if it's him not seeing eye to eye with some teammates... but I had heard over the last few weeks that maybe the relationship has been strained, maybe it needs a little bit of mending."

Pagnotta made it clear that the statement from the Senators has not altered the reality of what he has been hearing behind the scenes.

"I don't think all that stuff, to me anyways, hides the fact that [Ullmark's] name had been swirling around the last few weeks," concluded Pagnotta.

This situation is far from over, so stay tuned for all of the latest developments.