LEWISTON – The backlog of defensemen waiting to get into a game with the Lewiston Maineiacs got a bit thinner Tuesday.

The Maineiacs released 20-year-old blueliner Tom Michalik this week, ending his tenure with the team after two-plus seasons.

“It came down to a business decision,” Maineiacs’ coach Ed Harding said. “Twenty-year-olds, they have a contract and we treat them like professional players. At this point, we couldn’t have a 20-year-old that was going to be a sixth, seventh or eighth defenseman and out of the lineup.”

Michalik, a seventh-round draft pick by Lewiston in the 2005 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League entry draft, did not report to Lewiston until 2006. The Maineiacs, with Michalik, won the league championship that season.

Michalik has played 118 regular-season games with the Maineiacs, scoring two goals and adding 10 assists for 12 points, with 120 penalty minutes. In the team’s championship season, Michalik was a plus-14, but last year registered a minus-12 in 20 more games played.

Michalik came to training camp this summer needing to earn a spot among five 20-year-old skaters vying for three available positions. He appeared to get a reprieve, at least for a little while, when the team traded for Brett Gallant, only to have Gallant leave after only a few days.

That left the team with three 20-year-old skaters to begin the season – Michalik, Lucas Labelle and Max Gratchev, for whom the Maineiacs also traded.

But ice time on the blue line became a premium with 17-year-old Eric Gelinas and 16-year-old Garrett Clarke off to solid starts this season.

Harding was a bit evasive on the team’s immediate course of action, saying only that ” there could be” a move in the future.

“You never know,” Harding said. “There’s no 20-year-old coming in today, and not tomorrow, either.”

For now, the team will continue to play with two 20-year-old skaters in the lineup.

“We’re going to look for the right person as a 20-year-old to come in, whether we bring another one in or not,” Harding said. “We’re not going to just bring a guy in because he’s 20. He’s going to have to be a person who can fit into our team who we think can really help.”

Next on the schedule, the Maineiacs will play a home-and-home Friday and Sunday against the Drummondville Voltiegeurs, beginning Friday at 7 p.m. at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.