Ty Smith hadn't been thinking much during training camp about the possibility that he could end up in the AHL this season.
"I was just trying to play hockey," Smith told me after Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's game on Friday.
Smith, 22, was one of nine NHL-caliber defensemen on the Penguins' roster during training camp, and the Penguins needed to trim that group down in order to get under the salary cap's upper limit. In the days leading up to the deadline for season-opening rosters, the Penguins got that group down to eight by putting Mark Friedman on waivers and re-assigning him to Wilkes-Barre once he cleared.