Hello again everyone, and happy Sunday! 2023 is officially in full swing now that games are back after the Christmas break. We had the Winter Classic at Fenway Park in Boston on Monday. Hope you enjoyed it Boston fans, there won't be a ton of happy memories at Fenway this summer! Okay, all joking aside, it's time to go over a few waiver wire pickups that could help out your team squad short-term, and potentially down the stretch as well! Let's have a look.

Noel Acciari

The St. Louis Blues have had a real up-and-down type of season up until now. After stumbling out of the game at the start of the season, they got red-hot for a few weeks and then cooled back off again. Now they find themselves really fighting the injury bug with the likes of Ryan O'Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Torey Krug all on the injury reserve. With two of their top forwards out of the lineup, there's definitely some more ice time to be had for the likes of Acciari.

Now, I am not saying the 31-year-old is going to all of a sudden start netting you points galore. In fact, I will say if you are looking for points getters, Acciari probably isn't the guy for you. But he does a lot in terms of the other peripheral stats that can really help a team succeed. First off, if you are in a faceoffs league, Acciari can be sneaky good. He is listed as dual-eligible at left wing and center on Yahoo, and can actually slot into all three forward positions on Fantrax. Slotting him into the wing positions and having him win you faceoffs is such a nice added bonus. His faceoff numbers aren't elite in quantity, but he will net you around five to eight faceoff wins most games.

His real selling point though is undoubtedly his hitting prowess. This man is absolute terror out on the ice. Through 40 contests Acciari has 128 hits which averages out to be 3.2 per game. He currently ranks sixth in the league in hits, so consider him one of your best options out there for this category. In addition to his faceoffs and hits, he is also a pretty consistent shot-blocker. He has 42 blocked shots so far this year which is just over one per game. To be able to get a plethora of peripheral stats like this from a depth guy is super useful. 

As I mentioned before, if you need offense, you can find better options for sure. Acciari isn't much of a shooter either, so be prepared to take your lumps in that area. He did rack up three assists this week, but I'd take whatever offense you get from him as a nice added bonus. What matters is he is getting more playing time. His average TOI this season is 13:57 and over his last four games he's been north of 16 minutes, including one game where he played 18 minutes. Acciari isn't highly owned on Yahoo (8% rostered) or Fantrax (22% rostered). If your team is already clicking offensively and you have room for a depth player, Acciari could be a nice addition!

Jared McCann

Anytime I can talk about the pride of Stratford, Ontario (no, not Justin Bieber), I will take it! McCann has been heating up as of late, as have the Kraken. McCann has amassed 10 points over his last 11 games, including points in each of his last four games. For the season, that puts him at 19 goals, eight assists, and 27 points over the span of 35 games. For a full 82-game pace, that's over 60 points, which is not too shabby at all. Last season he scored a career-high 27 goals and 50 points. If he stays healthy, he should be able to beat these totals. 

At the age of 26, McCann has bounced around quite a bit in his career up to this point. After being drafted by the Canucks, he had stops in Florida and Pittsburgh before ending up with Seattle in their inaugural season last year. One of the best signs last year from him was that he was shooting a ton. He was averaging just under three shots per game. Unfortunately, this season his shot rate has fallen slightly back down to two per game. 

His linemates have varied this season, but most recently He has been on a line with Jaden Schwartz and Alex Wennberg. He's also spent a lot of time with Jordan Eberle and Matty Beniers, and this is probably the most optimal place for him if you are a fantasy hockey owner. Regardless though, McCann has been a fixture in the top-six, and additionally is centering the team's top power-play unit as well. 

I would think of McCann as the polar opposite of Noel Acciari. While Acciari can rack you up peripheral stats and lack scoring, McCann is a great option if you lack goals or power-play points. However, he won't bring a ton of hits or blocks to your team, so he really needs to be producing points in order to be a useful fantasy asset. While him and the Kraken are riding a hot streak though, I think now is a great time to roll the dice on him if you can get him. In Yahoo leagues he is 21% rostered, while on Fantrax he is taken in just over half the leagues at 53%.

Ryan Hartman

Last year saw Hartman have a breakthrough season with the Wild after he popped off for over 30 goals and over 60 points in total. His performance last year understandably brought some expectations into this season that he could replicate those efforts. Unfortunately, right at the end of October, Hartman went down with an upper-body injury that would sideline him until mid-December. With that being said, the Hartman Comeback Tour is officially on, and he could potentially be a sneaky little add for your team.

Since returning in December, Hartman has four goals and three assists over eight games. Five of those points have come in his last three games. Hopefully this could be a sign of things to come. Hartman is still playing a bit down in the lineup right now, but I believe he will eventually be put in a top-six spot at some point. They already have him back on the top power-play unit, so that seems like a good sign. 

Aside from racking up points, Hartman does a little bit over everything else as well. He shoots at a pretty solid rate of 2.4 shots per game. He also is averaging over a hit per game, and he will also get you a few faceoffs here and there to boot. These are nice little bonuses for a guy who when healthy can get you 60 points a season. I definitely think he is worth a speculatory add and hopefully he can stay hot and find himself on a line with some offensive threats such as Matt Boldy or even Kirill Kaprizov. Over the last day his ownership has already started to jump on both Yahoo and Fantrax. Yahoo has him at 37% owned, while Fantrax shows he is already 68% owned. So people are definitely taking a chance on Hartman already. At this point in the year, it could be a great add for your team if he pans out.

Well that's a wrap on this week’s column. It was bittersweet to see the World Juniors end on Thursday. Obviously, there's some bias here, but it was such a great tournament this year. The Maritimers out in Eastern Canada are absolutely incredible and created such a fantastic environment. If there's any readers from Sweden out there, you guys better bring your A-game next year!  It's gonna be fun to see where Connor Bedard ends up this offseason. But for now, we will keep our sights locked in on this fantasy season. See y'all next week!