Pittsburgh Penguins legend and current co-owner Mario Lemieux said through the team's Twitter account on Wednesday that rumours of a reported rift with Sidney Crosby are "absolutely not true" and "silly."

Lemieux was responding to a claim made by Matthew Barnaby on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio that there has been a falling out between them. 

Barnaby, who played 14 seasons in the NHL, including a stint with the Penguins, later backed up his claim on Sportsnet 590 The Fan.

Barnaby was initially looking into the relationship between Crosby and teammate Evgeni Malkin, when he began to hear that the problems were elsewhere. 

He went on to say that sources closer to the team were telling him that "they are not on speaking terms" and Lemieux and Crosby have not been on the same page since the Penguins were eliminated from the playoffs in 2014. 

Coaching and team personnel were other reasons provided by Barnaby for the rift. 

"Whether that pushes them to move him at some point. Whether he wants to move. That I don't know," said Barnaby.