Now that we've passed the halfway point of the season, this would be the time of the year when the NHL would be holding its all-star game.

If you were to do a fantasy all-star squad, you know all the top players would be there: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Auston Matthews, Patrick Kane, Victor Hedman and so on.

In real life, players are oftentimes selected to the All-Star Game based on reputation, not the season they are having. Some of the fun of the all-star game is looking at a few of the players that are there and asking yourself, "wait, he made it over that guy?"

Below are 10 players who should make a fantasy all-star squad over some of the players considered to be the best fantasy assets. Not that I am saying you should trade these players for the better-known players, just that they've been just as good or better so far this season. These are guys whom you probably could have drafted much later but still got similar or better production.

10. Philipp Grubauer over Andrei Vasilevskiy

There have been plenty of articles over the past week about who should win the Vezina, and it seems like if the winner is not Vasilevskiy, it would be Marc-Andre Fleury. However, Grubauer's numbers are just as impressive as either of the other two. Grubauer has an 18-7-0 record with five shutouts, a 1.74 GAA and a 0.929 SV%. By comparison, Vasilevskiy is 20-3-1 with three shutouts, a 1.86 GAA and a 0.933 SV%. Grubauer was the 15^th goalie selected on average in Yahoo leagues, but is the second-ranked netminder at the halfway point of the season.

9. Joe Pavelski over John Tavares

There are not many leagues where you would choose Pavelski over the Leafs centre, but Pavelski was ranked higher in basic Yahoo leagues as of Sunday afternoon. Before Sunday night's game, Pavelski had played five fewer games than Tavares, but yet the two are tied in points. Pavelski also has the edge in goals, power-play goals and power-play points, not to mention a slight edge in hits and blocked shots.

8. Pavel Buchnevich over Mika Zibanejad

While Zibanejad is considered the better player, his numbers are lower this season because of a massive cold streak. Buchnevich hasn't experienced that cold spell this season and he's been the much better fantasy option overall. Buchnevich is ahead of his Ranger teammate in goals, assists, points, power-play points and plus-minus despite playing fewer minutes with the man advantage. Even with Zibanejad's St. Patrick's Day game where he had six points in a period, Buchnevich has been just as productive as Zibanejad over the past two weeks.

7. Ondrej Palat over Blake Wheeler

Before the last five games occurred, Palat was easily experiencing the best season of his career. On March 13, Palat was a point-per-game player. His production has slipped a little with only two points in his last five games, but he still has 28 points in 31 games. With 11 goals, there's an outside chance he'll break his career high of 23. With a 56-game pace of 49 points, he also has a chance to break 50 for the first time since 2016-17. His 2.2 shots per game tie a career high, and he always contributes in hits. His most impressive stat has to be power-play points, where he has already posted 15 points with the man-advantage. That equals his best season and is tied for fifth in the league as he's locked onto the top unit until Nikita Kucherov gets back into the lineup in the postseason. Compare that to Wheeler. So far, Palat bests Wheeler in goals, points, power-play goals, power-play points, plus-minus, hits and blocked shots, and has only taken three fewer shots.

6. Mike Smith over Connor Hellebuyck

There has been a mad scramble to grab Smith off the waiver wire over the past six weeks, and with good reason. Given up for fantasy dead, Smith has been one of the best goalies since Feb. 8. Since that date, he has a .920 SV% and 2.36 GAA with two shutouts, and his 10 wins are tied for fourth highest. He's been saving many fantasy seasons. Hellebuyck hasn't exactly been disappointing, but he hasn't been the fantasy force that many expected. He hasn't posted a shutout yet and despite the extra month of action, has only three more wins than Smith.

5. Samuel Girard over Miro Heiskanen

Girard was able to take advantage of the recent injuries to the Avs defensive corps to push his numbers up. In 27 games, he has 22 points, plus-10, 50 shots, eight power-play points and 26 blocked shots. He's also been averaging a career-high 23:22 per night. Going into Sunday night's game, Heiskanen has put up worse numbers in almost every category, including goals, assists, points, power-play points, plus/minus, PIM and blocked shots.

4. Vincent Trocheck over Gabriel Landeskog

Landeskog gets plenty of credit for being a beast in peripheral leagues, but Trocheck has been just as impressive this season. Despite playing three fewer games, Trocheck has four more goals and just as many points as the Colorado captain. Trocheck also has twice as many power-play points and only 13 fewer shots. They're also tied in the hits category. If your league counts faceoffs, then Trocheck has even more of an advantage.

3. Jack Roslovic over Patrik Laine

Much of the focus of the big trade earlier this campaign was on former 40-goal scorer Laine, but Roslovic has been the much better player for Columbus. For starters, he hasn't been benched for portions of games. From a fantasy standpoint, Roslovic has been the better producer, topping Laine in points, power-play points and plus-minus. Maybe even more stunningly, Roslovic is close in shots as well, as Laine has 50 while Roslovic has 40.

2. Nick Leddy over Brent Burns

Burns has been disappointing, but there's still a belief that he has great peripherals for fantasy leagues. However, Leddy is outperforming Burns in almost every category. Just compare the two:

Burns: 5 goals, 11 assists, five power-play points, 73 shots, minus-10, 20 hits and 45 blocked shots

Leddy: One goal, 20 assists, eight power-play points, 43 shots, plus-two, 29 hits and 29 blocked shots

Leddy is owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo pools while Burns is owned in 94 percent, even though Leddy has been the much better fantasy performer this season.

1. Darnell Nurse over John Carlson

Nurse has always been an awesome contributor in leagues that count peripherals, but his added offense this year makes him one of the most valuable defenders in fantasy hockey. Nurse's 25 points are sixth-highest among defensemen, and only two points behind Carlson. Nurse has more goals than the Caps defender and is keeping pace in the shots category. His plus-21 is third among all players while his 40 PIM is top 10. Plus, he is one of only two players with at least 75 hits and 60 blocked shots.