The long-rumored trades will become official Friday morning, and there may be more cooking.

The Lewiston Maineiacs have rarely made much of a splash on the trade market during the annual Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft, and when there has been a move of the blockbuster variety, it was either out of necessity, or one, isolated move with little else.

That could very well change Friday.

“Trades are all made based on the character of the players involved,” Maineiacs’ GM Roger Shannon said Thursday. “We want a team of 24 community guys, not just four, and that being the case, any trades made (Friday), one of the major factors in all of that will be the quality of the players we’re bringing in.”

Shannon would not, per league rules, disclose any deals that have already been discussed and completed with any other teams.

Earlier this spring, word leaked out that the Maineiacs had, indeed, made a few pre-draft moves, including trading captain Billy Lacasse to Chicoutimi for a draft pick, trading 17-year-old forward Jean-Francois Plante to Shawinigan for 20-year-old forward Antoine Houde-Caron, and trading a draft pick or two to Acadie-Bathurst for 20-year-old defenseman Olivier Dame-Malka. Many of the players involved in those deals all but confirmed the movement on their own social networking Web pages.

The centerpiece of Friday’s 18-team free-for-all could very well involve Lewiston again. One of the worst-kept secrets since the mid-season trade period in January was the likely arrival of 19-year-old goalie Olivier Roy in Lewiston as part of the deal that sent defenseman Eric Gelinas to Cape Breton and then along to Chicoutimi.

More talk has surfaced around the league that Lewiston is considering flipping Roy to another team — the leading candidate is Acadie-Bathurst — for the Titan’s first-round pick (No. 5 overall), and a host of other picks and/or players.

Shannon would not confirm nor deny those talk were ongoing, but did offer a hint into the team’s mindset.

“When you have a player of that caliber that’s generating a lot of interest, you can’t not look at the offers you might get,” Shannon said, “and how that would impact your team, not only this year, but how it would impact your team for the future.”

Shannon also confirmed Thursday that the team’s top priority is goaltending.

“It’s absolute priority,” Shannon said, “and regardless of what takes place with any trades and all that kind of stuff, we’re going to make sure we’re solid in net this year.”

As it stands, Lewiston’s first pick in the draft will be the final selection of the second round. The Maineiacs also have their own pick in the third round, and three in the fifth round, in addition to their own selections in Rounds 8-12.

The QMJHL’s pre-draft trade period lasts for two hours Friday morning, and trades can again occur on draft day. Teams are allowed to trade when it is their turn to pick in the draft, which begins at 10 a.m. Saturday.