LEWISTON — “New” has been the Lewiston Maineiacs’ buzz word this offseason.

There are new people in charge, new role players in the front office, and new players all over the roster. But just how new are these guys? And how young is this team really going to be?

Here is a positional breakdown of the 24-man roster.

Goalies

Lewiston begins the season heavily relying on 20-year-old Adrien Lemay. The competition to be Lemay’s backup lasted only a short time, with Jordan Kennedy, a 16-year-old drafted rookie out of the Cape Breton region of Nova Scotia, beating out Tyler Piercy, a Fredericton native with ties to North Yarmouth Academy. Piercy is penciled in as the squad’s third netminder should he be needed due to injury or illness.

Kennedy, meanwhile, has come a long way during his three weeks with the team.

“He’s improved almost every day since he’s been here,” Maineiacs’ coach Don MacAdam said. “He’s got good skills. he’s 16, though, and he’s going to need to learn to play in this league, and how to prepare to play in this league properly.”

But, MacAdam said, having Lemay around is going to help.

“Adrien is one of the most prepared players I’ve been around,” MacAdam said. “Jordan’s going to learn a lot, just by watching Adrien and seeing how he does things.”

Lemay, meanwhile, was one of the top goaltenders in the preseason. Among goalies who saw action in at least four preseason games, Lemay ranks second behind Quebec backup Jean-Philippe Gagnon with a 1.28 goals-against average, and he stopped 85 of the 88 total shots he faced in 140-plus minutes.

“If we can limit the shots to 10 per period, or right about there, we are confident that we can win a lot of games with Adrien as our goaltender,” MacAdam said.

Defense

The defensive corps is the oldest sector of the team, with four 19-year-old skaters and a 20-year-old to begin the season.

The acquisition of Matt Boyle from Moncton as a 20-year-old went a long way toward providing stability for the team’s back end, which also has 19-year-old rookies Riku Dufva of Finland and Eric Bonawitz of Lewiston.

Dufva, described initially as a wrecking ball on skates with good hockey sense, has been as advertised in the physicality department, but according to the coaches, needs to adapt a bit to the QMJHL’s style of play.

Bonawitz is in a similar situation, having never played more than 40 games in a season at any level.

Marco Desveaux, the newest addition to the roster after the Maineiacs claimed him off waivers last week, will also play a bit of defense early in the season, but should move back to forward after the team’s two NHL-campers return.

Those two players, 18-year-olds Sam Finn and Eric Gelinas, will be the backbone of the team’s blue line. Both will wear A’s on their sweaters as alternate captains, along with Boyle.

As 17-year-olds, both Zach Shannon and Samuel Carrier are expected to provide steady play and solid, puck-moving skills. carrier is on the watch list for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Forwards

On the surface, with so few players returning from last year’s team, it would be easy to assume there isn’t much QMJHL talent in this group, and even easier to have low expectations.

But a closer look reveals a wealth of new players who have played in the league.

Sebastien Trudeau, Stefan Fournier, Mathieu Gingras, Samuel Grenache, Alexis Piette and Desveaux have all skated in the league before, and will join returning veterans Billy Lacasse — this year’s captain — Pier-Olivier Morin, Alex Beaton, Michael Chaput and Etienne Brodeur on a deep and populated front line that also includes three 16-year-old skaters.

The team’s top two lines are a mix of grit, passing ability and scoring punch, with Lacasse, Morin, Grenache, Piette, Fournier and Trudeau expected to see a lot of time.

That still leaves Chaput, Gingras, Brodeur and Desveaux for some of the other spots, with a healthy dose of the three youngsters — Francis Beauvillier, Jean-Francois Plante and Samuel Henley — mixed in, along with European import Oskar Orrpars.

“We have a lot of younger guys, but they don’t wear ages when they skate out there, and their skill will have to do the talking,” MacAdam said.

 After their season opening road trip to Chicoutimi and Quebec, the Maineiacs will open up at home Friday, Sept. 18 against Baie-Comeau.