The 10 most surprising fantasy hockey seasons came from these players…

If everyone knew who was going to have a breakthrough season, fantasy hockey would be easy.

Instead, there are plenty of players who are left on the scrap heap that poolies are scrambling to pick up off the waiver wire throughout the season.

It's easy to predict who will have the best fantasy seasons (in most formats, Sidney Crosby is the best forward, Tuuka Raskis  the best goalie and Erik Karlsson is the best defenceman), but the trick to running a successful fantasy team is predicting those who will have a breakout season. But even the majority of us didn't see these 10 surprises.

10. Joe Pavelski – While he's had a few 60-point seasons in the past, it looked like he would never be able to break through to the next level. Last year, he had just 31 points in 48 games. But he is a guy who should have been drafted a lot higher because of his dual eligibility (Yahoo has him listed a centre, right wing and left wing, and he was drafted 87^th overall on average). This year, Pavelski has broken through in a big way. He currently sits with 39 goals (third in the league) and 76 points (7^th overall). He's also been great for fantasy playoffs with five goals and nine points in his last six games.

9. Steve Mason: Here's how lowly most poolies thought of Steve Mason before the season. Many people thought Ray Emery would be the number one goalie by Christmas, evidenced by the fact Mason was drafted in only 12 per cent of Yahoo leagues. Goalies drafted at a higher position included Ray Emery, Devan Dubynk and Jean-Sebastien Giguere. While his save percentage and goals against average are a little below average, Mason is seventh in the league with 32 wins.

8. Ryan Johansen: We all knew it was a matter of time before the 21-year-old had a breakthrough season, but few expected it to be this soon. Johansen, who wasn't even a top 200-pick on average in Yahoo pools, exploded with the Blue Jackets this season. He has 31 goals and 26 assists this year, which is a great breakout season for a player who had a total of 14 goals 19 assists the previous two seasons combined.

7. Jarome Iginla: It's not like Iginla was seen as being washed up by poolies. But a year after scoring 14 goals, the former Flame and Penguin was moving to Boston this season, a team that spreads its scoring around. No one was sure how Iggy would fit in, and it showed in his average Yahoo draft position (122^nd). Iginla had a bounceback season this year, scoring 30 goals and 31 assists. He's also contributed eight game winning goals, and has a shooting percentage of 15.1 per cent.  His plus-34 is third best in the NHL.

6. Jaromir Jagr: Who said the old man was washed up? Given up for dead by most poolies, this season has been Jagr's best since coming back to the NHL three years ago. So far, he has 24 goals and 40 assists for a total of 64 points (28^th best in the league). But he's been a key in a lot of other fantasy categories as well. He is a plus-14, and has five power play goals and six game winners. He's also never gone more than four games without a point.  

5. Kyle Okposo: Taken 176^th overall in average Yahoo pools, most people thought if he were to have any success, it would be because of John Tavares. For a long time, it looked like that. But in addition to his 69 points this year, Okposo had 10 points in 12 post Olympics without Tavares until getting injured himself.

4. Ryan McDonagh: From 161st average Yahoo draft to a potential Norris trophy nominee, it's been a great season for the Rangers defenceman. The former Montreal Canadiens draft pick (typing this still hurts this Habs fan) has contributed in almost every category: He has 14 goals, 29 assists, a plus-11, two power play goals, three shorthanded goals and four game winning goals. Among defencemen, he's fifth in goals and 14^th in points.

3. Alexander Steen: He's cooled off a little since he was injured with a concussion in December and missed 11 games, but for a guy who was taken around pick 160 in Yahoo drafts, Steen had an unbelievable first half of the season. He was amongst the league leaders in points, and was challenging for the league lead in goals. Even though he has slowed down a little, Steen still has 33 goals and 60 points (both career highs) in 64 games.

2. Semyon Varlamov – Remember when Colorado paid a first and a second round pick for Varly and we all laughed at the Avalanche? Washington ended up choosing Filip Forsberg with the first rounder, and traded the second rounder to Dallas as part of the deal they got for Mike Ribeiro (Dallas took Mike Winther). So Washington has nothing left from this deal and had to trade for a goalie this year to make a push for the playoffs, while Colorado has the goalie who leads the NHL in victories and is a dark horse candidate for the Vezina. Overall, Varlamov is also fourth in save percentage with .927, and has a 2.42 goals against average. He's also won six games in a row, which is great for owners in head-to-head playoffs.

1. Ben Bishop – Wasn't he going to split duties with Anders Lindback? Funny stat: Not only was Lindback chosen ahead of Bishop on average in Yahoo drafts, but only two goalies were chosen after Bishop: Karri Ramo and Jacob Markstrom. To put that in perspective, Tomas Vokoun was chosen higher than Bishop on average. All Bishop has done is become the #1 guy, lead the Lightning to a playoff spot, and post a record of 37-14-7, with a 2.23 GAA and a .924 save percentage.