The man who became infamous for using the term "draft schmaft" made a little splash of his own at the NHL entry draft Friday night.
Cliff Fletcher, the Toronto Maple Leafs' general manager, moved up two places in the draft, getting to No. 5 overall so that he could select Kelowna Rockets defenceman Luke Schenn, a cornerstone defenceman on Canada's last world junior championship team.
Schenn - an Adam Foote type who is considered the most NHL-ready prospect in the draft - was chosen with a pick that originally belonged to the New York Islanders.
In exchange for moving up two places to No. 5, Toronto traded its own pick, seventh overall, plus either the 60th overall choice this year and a third-rounder next year or the 68th overall choice this year and a second-rounder in 2009. The option belongs to the Islanders and they will wait until Saturday's second day of the draft to make a decision.
General manager Cliff Fletcher was heartily booed when they showed his face on the Jumbotron, as he negotiated the deal - par for the course for the pro-Ottawa Senators' crowd. Just before assistant GM Mike Penny made the pick, they chanted 'Leafs suck, Leafs' suck."
Thankfully, they had the sense to stop briefly when Schenn's name was called.
Schenn played 72 games for Kelowna last year, picking up 29 points and 139 penalty minutes. He is the Leafs' highest pick since they took Scott Thornton third overall in 1989.
Schenn is considered a classic shutdown defenceman; he played mostly alongside Thomas Hickey on the world junior team and went out mostly against the opposition's top players.
The Islanders then traded down again, making a deal with Nashville to drop to No. 9 overall and gain an extra second-rounder, 40th overall, from the Nashville Predators.
The Predators turned around and chose Boston University centre Colin Wilson with the seventh choice that originally belonged to Toronto. Wilson is the son of former NHL centre Carey Wilson who played for Fletcher back in their Calgary days.
Wilson was rated 10 among North American skaters by the NHL's Central Scouting bureau.