Boucher made four appearances for the Flyers last season. The veteran net-minder posted a modest 2.50 goals allowed average in those 144 minutes. With the recently signed Ray Emery and Steve Mason vying for a No. 1 spot, Boucher doesn't figure to see much ice time in the orange and black.
This year Boucher will be lucky to secure for himself even his backup role from last season, given a shoulder injury that looks to sideline him until mid-season as well as his generally poor performance throughout 2011-2012. Boucher registered a 1-6-1 record last year with a 3.40 goals-against average in sparse relief duty of Cam Ward.
This past summer Boucher signed a two-year contract with Carolina, where he will almost assuredly line up second in the goalie pecking order behind Cam Ward, who was the league’s most utilized backstop last season. Boucher is a solid choice to give Ward some extra rest this season, as he has 11 years of NHL experience between five clubs, and is coming off a season with the Flyers that included an 18-10-4 record, 2.42 goals-against average and .916 save percentage. Still, make sure there aren’t any viable starting goalies available on the draft board before adding this backup in fantasy pools.
The Flyers clearly weren't all-in with Boucher as the playoffs progressed and he'll likely enter the season as the bacukup to Michael Leighton, who inked a two-year deal with the Flyers this offseason. The 33-year old Boucher didn't rank within shouting distance of the top of the league in any meaningful goaltending category, so even if he does somehow win the job, he's not going to provide fantasy owners much. Plus, there's speculation that the Flyers will give a real shot to a few youngsters in the AHL, namely Johan Backlund. There's a few more Flyers prospects working their way through the system, but the battle for ice time will likely be between Boucher, Leighton and, perhaps, Backlund.
With the Flyers, Boucher was 46-38-12, with a 2.45 GAA and seven shutouts, in 103 regular-season games from 1999-2002. The 30-year-old goalie is 77-96-33 with a 2.79 GAA and 13 shutouts, in 220 NHL games over seven seasons. He is only worth a look in deeper Fantasy leagues if Martin Biron or Antero Niittymaki suffer a long-term injury.
Boucher will not get many starts in 2006-07, as he is backing up the best goalie in the NHL. Not to mention the fact that he was less than impressive his stint with Calgary in 2005-06, giving up 13 goals his last two games. Boucher has little to no fantasy value.
What do you get by breaking a couple of NHL records? A battle for the starting goalie job. Two seasons after Boucher broke the record for consecutive shutouts and consecutive shutout minutes (5 shutouts and 332:01), the Coyotes picked up Curtis Joseph. Other than the records, Boucher was just average and needs to be more consistent between the pipes.
