Trade winds are swirling around popular Pittsburgh Penguins winger Patric Hornqvist.

Kevin Weekes of the NHL Network reported Wednesday afternoon that the Penguins were trading Hornqvist to the Florida Panthers for defenseman Mike Matheson.

Later in the day, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported the deal was “falling apart” thanks to potential snags involving Hornqvist’s no-trade clause and insurance coverage.

Hornqvist, 33, is a relentless net-front presence whose arrival in Pittsburgh in 2014 paved the way for the franchise’s back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17. After his goal production peaked with 29 in 2017-18, he scored 17 for the Penguins this season and 18 the year before that.

He has three years left on a deal that pays him $5.3 annually. According to reports, Hornqvist has a full no-trade clause that converts to an eight-team no-trade list after the 2020-21 season.

Given Jim Rutherford’s connection to Hornqvist — the trade to acquire him was the first major move the GM made after joining the Penguins — saying goodbye would not be easy.

“The culture needed to be changed, and getting a guy like Hornqvist was a big step to do that,” Rutherford said last year.

Trading Hornqvist would, however, make good on Rutherford’s promise of shaking up the team’s roster after a disappointing four-game playoff ouster against Montreal last month. Hornqvist is a respected presence in the locker room, and sending him packing would certainly not qualify as business as usual.

Matheson, 26, is a 2012 first-round draft pick out of Boston College who has had an up-and-down four-year stay in Florida.

He’s known as a good skater, and he has produced some offensive numbers for the Panthers, once scoring 10 goals and twice recording 27 points, but his defensive-zone work has been criticized, especially in 2018-19. That year, he was a minus-25 and led the league with 135 giveaways. Those numbers improved to minus-1 and 54 giveaways this season.

Matheson has an extraordinarily lengthy contract — six years remaining with an average annual salary of $4.85 million. He has an eight-team no-trade list that kicks in at the start of the 2021-22 season.

Adding Matheson would create a logjam of left-handed defensemen on the Penguins roster.

Brian Dumoulin is a 29-year-old on a relatively team-friendly contract that pays him $4.1 million annually who has been cemented as a top-pair player alongside Kris Letang.

Marcus Pettersson is promising 24-year-old with five years left on a deal paying him a little over $4 million per year. Pettersson looked this season like he found a long-term home on the second defense pair with John Marino.

Jack Johnson, despite his ineffectiveness, has received multiple votes of confidence from management, and it would be difficult to move his contract, which has three years left with an average annual salary of $3.25 million.

Juuso Riikola, who signed a two-year contract extension earlier this month, provides depth. Pierre Olivier-Joseph, acquired in last summer’s Phil Kessel deal, is one of the organization’s top prospects.

If the deal goes through, another trade would be likely, or, at the very least, a left-handed defenseman would have to be moved to the right side, where the expected departure of free agent Justin Schultz has created an opening in the top six.

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