Carolina Trades Brian Boucher And Mark Alt To Philadelphia For Luke Pither

Brian Boucher is heading back to Philadelphia. Again.

The Philadelphia Flyers have traded prospect Luke Pither to Carolina for Mark Alt and Brian Boucher.

Boucher was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, 22nd overall. He began play with the Flyers in the 1999–2000 season, taking the starting position from veteran John Vanbiesbrouck and helped the team secure the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division regular season titles while leading the NHL in goals against average at 1.91. In the playoffs, he backstopped his team to the Eastern Conference Finals. Along the way, he recorded several memorable moments, including a five-overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins and a sprawling save against Patrik Elias of the New Jersey Devils. Although the Flyers were ahead 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Devils and despite the return of the injured Eric Lindros, Boucher and the Flyers lost in seven games to the eventual Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils. In 2000–01, however, a weak start saw him lose his starting position to Roman Čechmánek. In the 2010-2011 season, he returned to the Flyers, where he would split time in goal with standout rookie Sergei Bobrovsky after Leighton was demoted to the AHL. After game 2 of the conference quarterfinals against the Buffalo Sabres, Boucher was named the starter for the Flyers. After relieving Leighton in game 6 of the same series against Buffalo, Boucher became the only goaltender in NHL history to record two wins in a playoff series when coming in relief.

Alt was selected 53rd overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes. Alt joined the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers for the 2010–11 season. After missing the first game of the season, he participated in 35 consecutive games.His 10 points (two goals, eight assists) ranked fourth among Gophers defenders in points. In his first game, he logged his first career NCAA point, an assist on the game-winning goal. January 15, 2011, would mark the first NCAA goal of his career, as he scored versus divisional rival North Dakota.

After five seasons of playing junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League, Pither signed a three-year entry level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on March 4, 2010. Pither was loaned to the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers from Trenton and is scoring at a point-per-game pace with them in 2012-13. It seems doubtful, however, that he will be in the Hurricanes plans in the near future.

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Written by: Steven Ellis on January 13, 2013.on January 30, 2013.