TORONTO

Milan Michalek wants a fresh start with the Maple Leafs.

The forward just isn’t sure when that plan will kick in.

Acquired from the Ottawa Senators last week in the trade that sent Dion Phaneuf to the nation’s capital, Michalek continues to recover from a broken finger.

The Leafs say Michalek, 31, is week to week.

“Hopefully it will be a good change for me,” Michalek said on Wednesday at the MasterCard Centre in his first scrum with Toronto reporters since the trade.

“It’s a great opportunity, (the Leafs have) a great history and I am happy to be here. I think they are building a good team.”

That Michalek is on the down side of his National Hockey League career is not questioned. In 32 games with the Senators, he had six goals and four assists. Just four seasons ago, Michalek had a career-high 35 goals for Ottawa; in 2014-15, he dipped to 13 in 66 games.

Michalek is under contract through next season with a $4-million US salary cap hit. He didn’t agree to waive his no-trade clause to leave Ottawa before giving it some thought.

“It was hard,” Michalek said. “I have been in Ottawa for seven years and we are all settled there, so I talked to my wife and made the decision. I talked to Lou (Lamoriello) and (Mike Babcock). They called me and it made my decision easier.”

Michalek, Tyler Bozak and Shawn Matthias skated before practice, but Babcock indicated there won’t be any players activated from injured reserve for the Leafs’ next game, which comes on Thursday night against the New York Rangers.

It’s the first match of 15 in a span of 19 at the Air Canada Centre for the Leafs. The expectation is that Jonathan Bernier will start in goal.

Defenceman Matt Hunwick departed practice early, with Babcock only jokingly (we think) saying “We gave him the boot,” when asked why.

Is there a chance forward Joffrey Lupul, suffering from a middle-body injury, will be shut down for the rest of the season? The Leafs, in last place in the NHL, have 27 games remaining.

“That’s the great thing about being the coach,” Babcock said. “You’re not the medical person. They have not told me that yet. You are doing your best to get them back, to get them healthy, to get them so they can help the team.”

Babcock’s main concern, of course, is the players who are healthy. They weren’t good in a 7-2 drubbing at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.

“We talked about (being better) today,” Babcock said. “If you play real hard and you get prepared and you stay determined, you can walk around town, go for breakfast, life is good, people like you, it’s no problem. If you don’t get prepared, and you don’t play with determination and you don’t play with structure, it’s not as much fun to be around town. We have the most home games (18) of anybody left. Let’s be good.”

Twitter: @koshtorontosun