CRANBERRY, Pa. -- 27-year-old goaltender Anthony Peters has had quite the journey over the past year.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton signed him to a 25-game professional tryout contract last season after Peters had been playing with the Cincinnati Cylones of the ECHL. He only had eight career AHL games under his belt.
Peters ended up being pretty valuable down the stretch and played 24 games for Wilkes-Barre -- second only to Casey DeSmith's 27 games. Peters recorded a 2.71 goals against average and a .907 save percentage. His work earned him a full AHL contract for 2018-19 and, now, an invitation to his first ever NHL training camp.
"It's exciting," Peters said of the opportunity. "Certain things had to fall into place, and you just have to do what you can control, and that's working hard, coming to the rink every day and trying to be prepared for when things do happen. It's exciting to be here, I'm really enjoying it."
Peters said he feels a little starstruck sharing the ice and making saves on guys such as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. It's quite a difference from the ECHL talent he faced only months ago. On Day 4, he stopped such shooters as Phil Kessel in the championship game shootout to secure the win.
That’s it. Anthony Peters rings one up for @ECHL goalies everywhere by stoning Phil on the shootout to win the tournament. #DKPS #Penguins pic.twitter.com/4Tkgj1QRLY
— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) September 17, 2018
The caliber of coaches is different, as well. Pittsburgh's goaltending coach Mike Buckley and goaltender development coach Andy Chiodo have been working equally with all six goaltenders at camp, not just the top guys. Peters stayed on the ice with Chiodo for a short time after Day 3 for some one-on-one advice.
"They're great," Peters said of the coaches. "Obviously, they both have a lot of experience, they bring a lot to the table. You just try to soak up as much as you can from there."
It also helps, Peters said, to be surrounded by five goalies of varying experience levels for their perspectives. He watches how someone like Matt Murray works and picks up some things from him. Peters doesn't have to look too far to find someone who can relate to his situation, either. DeSmith was on an ECHL contract only three years ago, earned an AHL contract, and then an NHL contract.
Peters gets some help at home over the offseason, too. His brother, Justin Peters, is a former NHL goaltender, primarily for Carolina. Justin played in the KHL and DEL last season and was a backup for Team Canada in the Pyeongchang Olympics, due to the lack of NHL players. Like Anthony, Justin spent some time in the ECHL and worked his way up the ladder.
"We certainly talk a lot," Peters said. "Seeing his path over the years, that helps."
Once camp ends and these players head to Wilkes-Barre's training camp, there might be some competition for the backup goaltending job down there. Peters seems like the obvious choice, not only because of his success last season, but because he can't be sent down to Wheeling -- Cincinnati retained his ECHL rights. However, 30-year-old John Muse also has looked strong at camp and has more professional experience in the minor leagues. Muse is able to be reassigned to Wheeling, but it's hard to imagine that he would have signed an NHL contract this summer with Pittsburgh only to share the net in the ECHL.
Peters, who wasn't even aware that he couldn't be sent down to Wheeling, doesn't get caught up in the intricacies of those decisions, and he doesn't feel any sort of competition with Muse.
"My job is to stop the puck and come to the rink, that's all I do."
MORE PROSPECTS FROM DAY 4:
• Defenseman Joe Masonius was absent again today. He’s day-to-day after sustaining an injury in Friday’s practice.
• Finally, Freddie Tiffels got rewarded in the scrimmages. He stood out because of his speed in these games but hadn't been able to actually produce. On a new line with Sam Lafferty and Linus Olund (Olund replacing Troy Josephs) in the championship scrimmage, he scored two goals in the first frame.
• Muse absolutely was one of the stars of the game. Muse, who was in the ECHL last season, came up big for his team on a number of occasions, the most notable being a diving stop on defenseman Ethan Prow that drew a big reaction from his teammates and the crowd. I still see him playing in Wheeling, if only because of Peters' ECHL rights, but he has been strong throughout camp.
• Both the preliminary tiebreaker game and the championship game went to shootouts today. Daniel Sprong's shootout goal on DeSmith for Team 1 was the nicest of the day. Jean-Sebastien Dea showed some good hands during the shootout.
• Defenseman Juuso Riikola has been strong throughout camp as he begins his first professional season in North America. He'll need some time to become comfortable with the speed and physicality of game action in the North American style of play, and these scrimmages are no substitute for that. He has fared well in battles in the corners, which is promising. He was absolutely crushed by a Jack Johnson hit in the corner today, though Riikola got up laughing.
• Thomas Di Pauli had a nice move to pick up the assist on Jamie Oleksiak's goal. Di Pauli did all the work getting the puck to the net, skating around the circle before taking the initial shot, and Oleksiak picked up the rebound. Di Pauli is fast, and he looks confident on the ice, too. He's not especially tall at 5-foot-11, but he has a stocky build, which helps him.
• The AHL preseason schedule was released today. Wilkes-Barre's schedule is as follows:
Thu., Sept. 27
Lehigh Valley at W-B/Scranton, 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 29
Hershey at W-B/Scranton, 7:05 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 30
W-B/Scranton at Hershey, 5 p.m.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins camp championship, Cranberry Township, Sept. 17, 2018. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS