TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs placed veteran Milan Michalek on waivers Monday to bring a former player back into the fold.

Forward Ben Smith was picked up by Toronto after being put on waivers Sunday by the Colorado Avalanche. The move reunites him with the team he played 16 games for last season, arriving as part of the February trade that sent goaltender James Reimer to the San Jose Sharks. Smith recorded two goals and four assists in his short stint with Toronto before joining the AHL’s Toronto Marlies for their Calder Cup playoff run.

Michalek was absent from the start of practice at MasterCard Centre on Monday, which wasn’t immediately surprising because of the discomfort he was in during Saturday night’s game in Chicago after blocking a shot with his hand. Ultimately, Michalek’s fate was determined by a Maple Leafs’ need that Smith could more readily fill.

“We added Smith today [because] he gives us a right-hand faceoff guy who can penalties kill too,” said head coach Mike Babcock. “That was a concern for us. [Zach] Hyman and Leo [Komarov] are taking all the draws and they don’t play centre. We wanted to shore that up.”

Smith was averaging 2:16 per game on the penalty kill unit with Toronto last season and has won 50 percent or more of his faceoffs in each of the last four seasons. Michalek was averaging only 1:05 per game on the penalty kill unit this season.

By all accounts, Smith, a native of Toronto who grew up cheering for the Maple Leafs, is a great locker room presence as well. At 28, he’ll be among the oldest players amongst this year’s group. Having Smith on board frees up one of the club’s rookies – Connor Brown – to move off the fourth line and contribute more offensively.

“We wanted to free up Brownie to play in a different spot,” Babcock said. “[Nazem Kadri] and Leo [Komarov] had a lot of pace last year with them and we feel with more pace they can spend more time in the offensive zone for us and that’ s what we want. We think [Brown] can score at this level and be a real good support player.”

As for Michalek, 31, he will join fellow NHL veterans Colin Greening and Brooks Laich with the Marlies should he clear waivers by noon on Tuesday.  It would be Michalek’s first American Hockey League experience since skating in seven games for the Cleveland Barons in 2003-04. Michalek and Greening were both players the Maple Leafs’ received in the Dion Phaneuf trade with the Ottawa Senators.

“We’re in a situation where, we’ll see what happens. Someone claims him, great for him. If not, Greening and Laich and him are all in the same situation there, we can use them at any time,” Babcock said. “And we will, probably. I don’t think anything here is, like, forever, if that makes any sense. We just had an opportunity today where we had to make a decision quick because a player was on waivers that we’ve had in the past that fills a niche for us.”