LEWISTON — Eric Gelinas watched from the steps beside the Lewiston Maineiacs’ locker room Wednesday as his teammates skated through practice.

His New Jersey Devils wool cap was pulled low over his brow, and he clutched his cell phone in his hand. His eyes were puffy, his gaze blank as he watched the Maineiacs work on the power play without him.

In time, the phone in his hand rang. He had a five-minute conversation in French, retreated to the locker room for a moment and returned.

“I meet them in Victoriaville on Friday,” he said.

Gelinas, a mainstay on the Lewiston Maineiacs’ blue line since he was the team’s first-round draft choice in 2007, learned Wednesday that he’d been traded as part of a three-team deal between Cape Breton, Chicoutimi and Lewiston.

“It was probably one of the toughest meetings for a trade I’ve ever been a part of,” Lewiston assistant coach Jeff Guay said. “Having that phone call and going through it, it was definitely one of the toughest. He was part of the family here with the Lewiston Maineiacs. We all wish him the best of luck.”

Gelinas stood and talked with the team’s training staff for a while, and spoke with some players as they came off the ice. With most of his teammates back in the locker room, after he’d gathered his personal equipment, sticks and bag, he joined them for a private moment behind closed doors.

He emerged, his face awash in tears as he walked toward the front of the building and out the doors, likely for the final time as a member of the organization that gave him his shot.

“It’s part of the game, part of the business at this level, and what you want to do is look to the future,” Guay said. “There have been a lot of teams asking about Eric Gelinas. He’s turned into a young man and a great leader for the Lewiston Maineiacs. Him being a draft pick, he of course still has some things to work on, but he’s certainly going to be missed. You have to look toward the future.”

In what could turn into the more elaborate trades in Maineiacs history involving the most player-for-player talent, Gelinas landed in Chicoutimi along with a pair of draft picks for sniper Jacob Lagace. Lewiston also sent Stephen Woodworth and a fifth-round pick in 2010 to Cape Breton.

In return, Lewiston will receive a pair of 17-year-old defensemen, Zachary Evans-Renaud and Ian Saab, from Cape Breton, along with the Eagles’ second-round draft pick in 2012.

“I love Eric Gelinas, I love what he brought to this team and this organization, and I know the fans do too,” Maineiacs’ GM Roger Shannon said. “But when all is said and done, I think this will be a very good trade for the organization.”

Neither Evans-Renaud nor Saab have played much in the league this season. Saab has dressed for seven games with the Eagles, while Evans-Renaud has yet to play in a QMJHL game. Both are scheduled to arrive in Lewiston this weekend.

“They’ll be put into the lineup right away,” Shannon said.

Evans-Renaud was the No. 1 overall selection by the Campbellton Tigers of the Maritime Junior A League. Despite the Tigers occupying the basement of the 11-team league with just four wins on the season, Evans-Renaud leads the team with 24 points as a top-pairing defenseman, including nine total goals and five on the power play.

“He’s been playing almost 40 minutes a night in Campbellton,” Shannon said. “They were wearing him out a bit. But he’s by far the best prospect in the Maritime Junior A League for his age. He has a very high IQ, and very good hockey sense.”

In addition to playing in seven games with Cape Breton this season, Saab also dressed for eight games with the Halifax Lions of the MJAHL, registering two assists and 31 penalty minutes.

“He was a kid who got hurt in training camp with Cape Breton, otherwise he would have stayed with them,” Shannon said. “He’s started to get healthy lately and he’s played some. He has a real edge to his game; he plays nasty.”

Rumors circulating across the Internet on Wednesday speculated that the deal will not completed in full until the 2010 QMJHL entry draft in June, when it’s possible that draft picks involved in the deal again change hands for other player(s).

Shannon said Wednesday that he cannot comment on future transactions until they are officially submitted for league approval.

“We’ll work hand-in-hand with Cape Breton at a later date, I am sure,” Shannon said. “But is there anything done right now? No.”

Lewiston drafted Gelinas in the first round, 16th overall, in the 2007 QMJHL entry draft. In two-and-a-half seasons with the Maineiacs, the 6-foot, 4-inch defenseman has 16 goals and 61 assists in 154 games on the blue line, and has accumulated 147 penalty minutes.

The league’s mid-season trade window closes at noon on Thursday, and Shannon said Wednesday night that, at that moment, Lewiston was finished dealing.

“The phone is still ringing,” Shannon said. “Personally, I’d like to think we’re done, and in my opinion we are, but you never want to say that you’re 100 percent done until noon (Thursday), when everything is done.”