 On December 15, 2009, Leighton was claimed off waivers by the Flyers organization in order to back-up Brian Boucher while Ray Emery recovered from injury.On December 21, Boucher suffered an injury, and Leighton found himself in a starting role.On December 26, just 11 days after being waived, Leighton returned to Raleigh, North Carolina, as the Flyers defeated Carolina 4–3 in a shootout.