Famous OHL scout fired following involvement in Jeff Marek scandal

Katie Strang and Dan Robson from The Athletic have shed some light on a recent situation involving the draft, and it's got a few heads turning.

The main issue seems to be that Jeff Marek, who was working for Sportsnet during the draft, might have shared some inside info with a friend before it was officially announced. Marek had early access to draft picks because the NHL gave their TV partners a short heads-up, roughly a minute or two, before the picks went public. The story goes that Marek passed some of this info to Mark Seidel, a former NHL scout and director of player personnel for the Barrie Colts, who also runs the North American Central Scouting Independent Bureau. Seidel then apparently tweeted the picks on his X account before they were officially released.

In a twist, it was just announced that the Barrie Colts won't be renewing Mark Seidel's contract, which has only added to the buzz around this whole situation.

Now, even though this might sound like it could be tied to insider trading or gambling, Strang and Robson pointed out that there's no evidence of any gambling going on. In Nevada, sportsbooks stop taking bets on specific picks 24 hours before the NHL draft begins, so knowing the picks a minute or two early wouldn't have made a difference since no one would have been allowed to place bets.

Although it's possible that bets could have been placed elsewhere, Seidel was apparently in Las Vegas at the time, and there's no sign that any betting actually happened. A report even surfaced that a source confirmed there was absolutely no gambling taking place between Marek and Seidel, and that the information being tweeted was just to give fans a heads-up on social media. Also, some folks thought Marek leaving after the first night of the draft might have meant something was going on, but Strang and Robson clarified that his departure was planned well in advance and wasn't linked to any of this drama.

With the Barrie Colts stepping away from Mark Seidel, it'll be interesting to see if any more details come out in the next few weeks that further add to this already controversial situation.

Source: BarrieToday
COLUMN: Colts scout linked to Jeff Marek's departure from Sportsnet