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.

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.”