The circumstances surrounding host Jeff Marek’s departure from Sportsnet were suspicious.

Marek, a veteran fixture on the Canadian network’s NHL coverage, was assigned to cover the 2024 draft in Las Vegas. But as his popular Twitter/X feed attests — Marek has more than 244,000 followers as of this writing — he’s more or less disappeared from the public eye since then.

A new report from Thursday in The Athletic sheds light on the reason for this.

According to Katie Strang’s report, Marek leaked information about which teams were drafting which players to veteran scout Mark Seidel. In addition to running his own scouting service and his role with the Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts, Seidel has occasionally contributed draft content to ESPN. Both were in the Las Vegas Sphere for the first round of the draft on Oct. 28.

Strang writes:

Seidel and Marek have known each other for years, according to two people with knowledge of their relationship. Seidel has appeared on several podcasts with Marek, including to talk prospects ahead of the annual draft.

In Las Vegas, Seidel correctly predicted which teams would pick X, leading to concerns that Marek had told Seidel which teams would pick.

According to multiple sources familiar with the investigation, the NHL has raised concerns about the situation with the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which has been investigating the matter further.

LONDON, ON – MAY 20: The Sportsnet team (L-R) Jeff Marek, John Shannon, Nick Kypreos and Damien Cox prepare for the match between the Val’Dor Foreurs and the Edmonton Oil Kings in Game Five…

While the board has not commented specifically on the Marek situation, the rules for someone in Marek’s position sharing inside information about draft picks with a non-insider (such as Seidel) are strict. Strang cites anonymous NHL and media sources who claim that Marek shared the information with Seidel so that Seidel could prepare to provide social media analytics — not to further his sports betting hobby.

Strang also notes that Seidel, who declined to answer questions for her story, deleted a number of social media posts he made the night of the draft.

If Marek’s departure from Sportsnet is a direct result of his violation of Nevada protocols, that’s unfortunate. Strang’s reporting suggests he was merely trying to help a friend do his job, and may not have been aware that he was breaking a rule that could cost him his job.

Sportsnet has a $5.2 billion, 12-year rights deal with the NHL. According to the Toronto Sun, the NHL has contracted with a third-party firm specializing in external integrity and compliance to monitor coverage of the draft.