"Thanks for helpin, now get out!"

Ok, maybe that's not exactly what the Pittsburgh Penguins have said to young forwards Chris Conner and Nick Johnson, who've played big roles lately on scoring lines.

The salary cap is counted daily, so there's no reason to carry the extra contracts around.  Johnson has been on a yo-yo of callup's and send backs in between Pittsburgh's games.  One gets the feeling that if guys like Bill Guerin, Max Talbot and now maybe Eric Godard can not play on Thursday, Conner and/or Johnson will return to PIttsburgh.

Until then, young players have to just deal with a lot of impromptu travel plans and keep taking advantage of the opportunity to play in the NHL when it comes up.