All too often, fantasy hockey general managers are eager to give up on players after one or two poor seasons.

Truthfully, the giving up happens much quicker than that. A bad week or a horrendous month is enough to convince a general manager that a player sucks and it’s time to get rid of the bum.

Oftentimes, you might be rewarded for your patience if you’re willing to ride it out. Below are 10 players who are having rebound years. A few caveats before we get into the column:

We’re looking for players who had a poor season last year or for the past couple of years. Having a slow start to this year and getting hot over the past 20 games doesn’t count.

We’re not including those who missed all or almost all of last season, which eliminates players such as Tyler Bertuzzi and Jonathan Toews from this list.

It’s also good to remember that having a rebound season is not the same as having an unexpectedly great season. Look at Alex Ovechkin, for example. Last year, he had an 82-game point pace of 77 points. In the previous 10 seasons, he averaged an 82-game point pace of 81 points. So, he wasn’t far off last season. While he has been awesome this season, he doesn’t qualify for this list as he doesn’t have anything to rebound from.

Finally, while we will talk about other statistics, we will use points for forwards and defensemen to determine a rebound.

10. Shayne Gostisbehere

He wasn’t as bad last year as many may believe as he still had a 40-point pace, which was his highest in three seasons. However, the trade from Philadelphia to Arizona has been tremendous for the defenseman. He has 24 points in 36 games, an 82-game pace of 55 points. He’s also manned the top power-play unit since the first game of the season. If you were thinking about acquiring him, you don’t need to worry that Jakob Chychrun will take over when he gets back into the lineup.

9. Ryan Getzlaf

He’s doesn’t score much (just two goals on the season after five last year), but he’s producing everywhere else. His 0.73 points per game are the highest since 2017-18 and put him on pace for 60 points. That’s a significant increase from last season when he was on pace for 29 points over an 82-game campaign. With seven power-play points, he’s already topped last year’s four. His shot rate is more than half a shot per game from last year, and his hit rate is almost half a hit higher than a year ago. He’s also winning almost 11 faceoffs per game, a big increase from last year’s seven faceoff wins per game and easily besting his career high.

8. Jonathan Quick

At a quick glance, it wouldn’t seem as if Quick is that much more productive this campaign. In 22 games last year, he was 11-9-2 with two shutouts. In 23 games this season, he is 11-8-4 with two shutouts. However, he has seen massive improvements this season in almost every category.

2020-21: 2.86 GAA, .898 SV%, 40.9 quality start percentage, minus-5.93 goals saved above average

2021-22: 2.38 GAA, .921 SV%, 60.9 quality start percentage, 7.05 goals saved above average

Why is this important since fantasy leagues don’t include categories such as goals saved above average and quality start percentage? It’s because these numbers are helping lead to a significant increase in games started. Last year, he started 39 per cent of the Kings games as the team went with Calvin Petersen, although some of those missed starts are from injury. This year, Quick has started 60.5 per cent as his numbers have been much improved. This is a good omen for the rest of the season.

7. Dylan Larkin

How much did Larkin miss Tyler Bertuzzi last season? With Bertuzzi out of the lineup, Larkin had almost zero help when it came to creating offense, and finished with an 82-game pace of 43 points. This was a big letdown from a player who had an 82-game pace of at least 60 in each of the previous three years, and even as high as 79 one campaign. This year, he’s bounced back in a big way, with 34 points in 34 games. It’s simple math, but that puts him on pace for 82 points. Some of that increase comes from a much-higher-than-normal shooting percentage of 15.7 per cent, but I wouldn’t worry about that number dropping too much. He’s surrounded by much better talent this season, which will help him get his points.

6. Mikael Granlund

Granlund hasn’t been great for the Predators, but it is easy to understand why. Granlund was great for Minnesota, and it was a complete shock when the Wild dealt Granlund at the 2019 trade deadline while his wife was in labour with their first child. Granlund struggled the rest of the season, but that should have been expected. The next few seasons saw more struggles, but he was also dealing with some personal tragedy. He went from an 82-game pace of 70-plus points with Minnesota to a 40-point pace with Nashville. This season he’s back to a 70-point pace with 33 points in 37 games. His ice time is almost 21 minutes a night and his 12 power-play points are only one off from his last two seasons combined.

5. Erik Karlsson

A year ago, I had Karlsson as one of my choices for surprising players. He seemed to be healthy physically and mentally, and would go back to dominating the ice. Instead, his stock shot down even further as he posted 22 points in 52 games, a 35-point pace. Many gave up on Karlsson, but he’s bounced back to a 61-point pace this season. It’s not as great as his old days of 70-plus points, but fantasy general managers will take it. He’s also taking half a shot more per game and his minus-two is a huge improvement over the last two seasons of minus-18 and minus-15.

4. Vladimir Tarasenko

A name that was high on the trade lists last offseason and left unprotected in the expansion draft, Tarasenko used to be Mr. Consistent. Even when he was missing most of the season with injuries, you could still expect a 70-point pace from him. Until last season, when a shoulder injury meant he didn’t play until halfway through the campaign and he finished with 14 points in 24 games, an 82-game pace of 48 points. It looks like last season’s struggles can be chalked up to the recovery from his shoulder injury as he hadn’t played a regular-season game in about 18 months. Although he’s in Covid protocols now, he has a point-per-game pace and looks like a sure bet to hit 30 goals for the sixth time.

3. Morgan Rielly

Much of the focus in Toronto always seems to be on the forward core and the goaltender, but Rielly has become an underrated fantasy option while playing in the centre of the universe. This has come as a relief for fantasy general managers after a couple of poor seasons. Rielly put up a 72-point pace in 2018-19, and then the Leafs brought in Tyson Barrie. That pushed Rielly off the top power-play unit and he struggled somewhat the next two seasons, with a point pace of 47 and 52 respectively (as a side note, how great is it for the Leafs that a 52-point pace from a defenseman is considered struggling). This year, Rielly is on pace for 71 points, has brought his shot rate back up to normal and already has 11 power-play points, one off from last season’s total.

2. Evgeny Kuznetsov

Ovechkin may be getting the ink in Washington with his MVP-type season, but Kuznetsov deserves some press as well. He saw his points-per-82-games numbers drop in four straight seasons (from 86 to 78 to 68 to 58 last season). There were off-ice scandals, and rumours the Capitals wanted to distance themselves from Kuznetsov by trading him. Whether they couldn’t find a taker willing to meet their price or the rumours were simply rumours, Washington fans have to be ecstatic with Kuznetsov’s production. With 38 points in 36 games, he is on pace for 87 points. If you’re worried that the Capitals will mess with the lines and put Nicklas Backstrom with Ovechkin, you can relax. Kuznetsov was Ovi’s top centre last season, and has lined up alongside the Great 8 for 88.1 per cent of Ovechkin’s five-on-five shifts this season.

1. Steven Stamkos

In the four seasons starting in 2016-17, Stamkos had an 82-game pace ranging from 90 to 98 points. Then last season, that dropped to 73 points. Part of that could be chalked up to the season-long loss of Nikita Kucherov, who normally plays with Stamkos on the top line. With no Kucherov, Stamkos was still playing with great linemates, but not an elite one. This year, Kucherov has missed all but eight games, but even without Kucherov (and Brayden Point for a good chunk of the season), Stamkos is back to a 97-point pace.