DETROIT -- Dion Phaneuf famously turned up the dressing room stereo when he first joined the Toronto Maple Leafs six years ago, seizing control of the team's leadership in the process.

By contrast, he was unusually reserved during his first skate with the Ottawa Senators.

Traded from Toronto in a nine-player blockbuster a day earlier, Phaneuf looked like he was simply taking in his surroundings Wednesday morning as he skated with the third team of his NHL career for the first time. The 30-year-old appeared out of place with the big Senators crest on his jersey and an unfamiliar No. 2 on the back of his white helmet.

Phaneuf had worn No. 3 for his first 801 NHL games split between the Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames, the club that selected him in the first round of the 2003 draft. He had to surrender that number with Ottawa, where it has already been claimed by veteran defenceman Marc Methot.

"It's a fresh start for me," Phaneuf said as teammates grouped around excitedly to watch their newest defenceman speak. "It's a new chapter of my career and my life."

Shipped from Calgary to Toronto in a similar blockbuster on Jan. 31, 2010, Phaneuf played more than 400 games for the Leafs, including nearly six seasons as a captain. He was reluctant to look back on that time as he prepared to face the Red Wings in his first game as a Senator, focusing instead on his new team's bid to make the playoffs.

Phaneuf was only 24 when he first joined the Leafs, enduring plenty of controversy and losing -- and a rotating cast of teammates, coaches and general managers -- over 423 games, the last of which came in a 6-1 loss to the Senators on Saturday.

"I know that for me I played as hard as I possibly could," Phaneuf said of his Toronto tenure, which featured just one playoff series. "I worked as hard as I possibly could for that organization and I had great pride in playing there and being a Toronto Maple Leaf. But that changed. And now I'm an Ottawa Senator and I'm proud to be an Ottawa Senator and that's where I'm at now and I'm moving forward from my time in Toronto."

Paired with 22-year-old Cody Ceci, Phaneuf logged nearly 22 minutes in his debut against the Red Wings, trailing only Senators captain Erik Karlsson among Ottawa defencemen in ice time.

"He's a quality player, he's an elite player, (and) he's someone who's going to help this hockey team for (a) number of years and obviously take some pressure off guys like me," Karlsson said of Phaneuf. "It's nice having him here and I expect him to get more comfortable playing on this team."

The Senators fell 3-1 in Phaneuf's debut, their playoff hopes dealt a blow by an Atlantic division rival. Phaneuf wasn't able to derail Henrik Zetterberg as he drove wide to the net on the second Detroit goal, the Red Wings captain whistling a perfect shot past Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson.

Senators general manager Bryan Murray said it was experience and leadership that the club most valued in Phaneuf, who instantly became by far the team's most experienced defender. Methot, the former elder statesman of the defence, has played 300-plus fewer games than Phaneuf, who hit the 800-game plateau last week.

Meanwhile, the rebuilding Leafs were pleased to get out from under Phaneuf's contract, which still has five years remaining with an annual cap hit of US$ 7 million.

"I've got nothing but good things to say about my time in Toronto," Phaneuf said, noting his immense respect for the team's general manager Lou Lamoriello.

Phaneuf had the Senators on a list of 12 teams he would accept a trade to, something he said was based on the quality of the Ottawa organization and its passionate fans.

As he ambled through his first skate with the group, Phaneuf just seemed to be finding his bearings. He chatted with new teammates during the morning skate, including some apparent strategy with Ceci, and wondered aloud to Senators personnel about the departure time of the team bus.

Even teammates, many of whom had faced him for years in the Battle of Ontario rivalry, thought it strange to see Phaneuf as one of their own.

"We're so used to seeing him with the 'C' on for the Toronto Maple Leafs," Ceci said, "but now he's a teammate so all that's behind us."

Phaneuf was such an energetic presence from the day he joined the Leafs that then-head coach Ron Wilson named him to a previously vacant captaincy after only 26 games.

Older and more experienced, he seemed content to settle in quietly in his first hours with Ottawa.

Sporting a red Senators baseball cap after his debut Phaneuf said the experience of playing for a new team was different, "but I enjoyed every minute of it."