Was 2022 a good year for you in fantasy hockey? If it was, then onwards and upwards in 2023. If it wasn’t, a new year means a fresh start, right? Regardless of your fantasy hockey team’s current state, here are 10 players more than likely sitting on your fantasy hockey waiver wire that can be picked up to help you ring in the new year the right way.
(only includes players rostered in 50% or less of Yahoo Fantasy leagues; stats listed are after Wednesday’s games)
Best Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Pickups: Forwards
Andrei Kuzmenko – Vancouver – LW/RW – 42% Rostered
(14 G, 16 A, +9, 9 PPP, 60 SOG, 11 BLK)
Andrei Kuzmenko continues to have a very strong start to his NHL career after making the jump over from the KHL. He’s third on the Canucks in goals and points, and second in plus-minus. He’s also getting extensive power play chances and has hit the paydirt seven times with the man advantage, good for a tie for 11th best in the league. He helps you in pretty much every stat category.
Phillip Danault – Los Angeles – C – 28% Rostered
(10 G, 17 A, -2, 9 PPP, 75 SOG, 37 BLK)
Phillip Danault‘s hot play has him making a repeat appearance on our fantasy hockey waiver wire list. He’s on a five-game point streak, a span that has seen him get three goals and four assists. With 27 points already, he’s well on his way to eclipsing his career-high of 53 points he got in 2018/19. Normally he’s a very good plus-minus player, so once he gets that back on track, he helps you across the board in fantasy hockey.
Best Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Pickups: Defensemen
Adam Larsson – Seattle – D – 40% Rostered
(3 G, 9 A, +13, 0 PPP, 50 SOG, 66 BLK)
The move to the Kraken last season seems to have revived former #4 overall pick Adam Larsson‘s career. He posted career-high offensive numbers last season (we’ll ignore the -23 plus-minus), and this season he’s on pace to top them. And he’s got the plus-minus turned around, posting a +13 mark thus far. Playing on the Kraken’s top defensive pair, he’s another player with no real holes in his stat profile.
Brady Skjei – Carolina – D – 30% Rostered
(6 G, 9 A, +13, 1 PPP, 79 SOG, 25 BLK)
Brady Skjei is finishing up 2022 on a hot streak. In December so far he has four goals, four assists, and a +7 rating in 11 games. All those numbers are better than what he had put up in the 23 games before the calendar turned over to December. The 28-year-old blueliner is enjoying the best run of his eight-season NHL career. Hopefully he can keep it rolling in 2023.
Best Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Pickups: Goalies
Karel Vejmelka – Arizona – G – 50% Rostered
(10 W, 74 GA, 745 SV, 2 SHO)
Coyote netminder Karel Vejmelka‘s rostered number has dipped back down to 50%, so he’s eligible for this article and is back to being our #1 recommended goalie. He very quietly (and surprisingly) has been the tenth-best fantasy hockey goalie this season, ahead of such luminaries as Andrei Vasilevskiy (much to my chagrin as I drafted Vasilevskiy in the second round in my league).
Charlie Lindgren – Washington – G – 46% Rostered
(10 W, 42 GA, 438 SV, 0 SHO)
Here’s a fresh name on our goalie list – Washington’s Charlie Lindgren. Pretty much splitting the workload between the pipes evenly with Darcy Kuemper (22 games for Kuemper, 17 for Lindgren), Lindgren’s stats are right in line with Kuemper’s as well. Lindgren has won three straight games and eight of his last nine for the Caps, and his wins, goals against, and save percentage are among the league leaders.
Other fantasy hockey waiver wire players worth checking out: Logan Couture, Matthew Beniers, Sean Durzi, Brayden McNabb
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