Now that we have crossed beyond the halfway point of the NHL season, midseason awards lists are appearing everywhere. Who is the MVP? Erik Karlsson or Patrick Kane? Should Roberto Luongo or Braden Holtby win the Vezina? Will the Calder Race tighten or will Artemi Panarin run away with it?

Who cares?

Why don’t we accentuate the negative by focusing on players that are absolutely killing their teams? What about those players that are failing to meet expectations based on their career numbers and/or salary-cap hits? Why don’t we ring our bells, point our fingers and shout, “Shame!” at them?

Game of Thrones can’t get here soon enough.

Here are the five Least Valuable Players through 41-plus games this season. Since the Hart goes to the MVP, let’s give the Appendix to the LVP, since these players have been at best useless and at worse a dangerous organ that is potentially killing its host. That is so clever.

5. Paul Stastny , St. Louis Blues

2015-16 Salary Cap Hit: $7 million

2015-16 Numbers: 28 games, 3 goals, 18 points

The 30-year-old was signed to a hefty contract two years ago because the Blues needed offense and Stastny had proven in the past he could score. He had 25 goals in his final season with the Avalanche in 2013-14 and has been just about a lock for 20 goals in every season. He had 16 goals last season and is on pace for five this season.

Throw in the fact he missed 16 games with a broken foot and is currently dealing with an upper-body injury, and this has been a nightmare season for Stastny. The Blues are fighting for the best record in the West, but if Stastny was his usual self, they might atop the conference.

4. Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes

2015-16 Salary Cap Hit: $6.3 million

2015-16 Numbers: 14-11-4, 2.40 GAA, .906 save percentage

Carolina is playing some OK hockey and sitting within one hot streak of a playoff spot. If the Hurricanes had just a league-average goaltender — Ward is 10 points below that — they’d be sitting in a playoff spot. Only Pekka Rinne has been worse among goaltenders to make at least 25 starts but the Predators are a postseason team as of now.

The Hurricanes are a quality possession team being crushed by its goaltending. Ward hasn’t been north of .910 since the 2011-12 season so he doesn’t figure to push the Hurricanes into a playoff spot in the second half. His recent history of being the worst is the only reason he’s not higher on the list.

3. Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators

2015-16 Salary Cap Hit: $7 million

2015-16 Numbers: 16-14-6, 2.50 GAA, .905 save percentage

Rinne is 13 points below his career save percentage mark and it’s why the Predators are clinging to a wild-card spot and not challenging the Dallas Stars for the best record in the league. The Predators are the second-best possession team in the league and their elite goaltender can’t make a save. Sure, the offense isn’t scoring much either, but that’s par for the course in Nashville; Rinne at .905 is virtually unprecedented.

Keep all that in mind when you are complaining that John Scott is in the All-Star Game in a couple weeks because so is Rinne. You can blame fans for Scott but he didn’t pick the NHL’s worst regular starting goaltender for the Central team.

2. Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia Flyers

2015-16 Salary Cap Hit: $4.25 million

2015-16 Numbers: 41 games, 5 goals, 29 points

Voracek appeared to be ascending to elite status after he had 62 points two years ago and 81 points last year while playing regularly on a line with Claude Giroux. That rise led to the Flyers giving Voracek an eight-year, $66 million contract in July that begins next season. Voracek has rewarded that confidence with a dud of a first half.

The 26-year-old is on pace for 10 goals and 58 points as the Flyers sit just outside a playoff spot. The team has scored the second-fewest goals in the league and least in the Eastern Conference as Voracek has spent much of the season playing on lower lines with less-talented players than Giroux.

1. Ryan Kesler, Anaheim Ducks

2015-16 Salary Cap Hit: $5 million

2015-16 Numbers: 42 games, 8 goals, 17 points

There is a lot wrong with the Ducks, a preseason Cup favorite in a lot of people’s minds (including mine), but Kesler is killing that team as much as anyone. He is on pace for his lowest goal and point totals in a full season since 2005-06, which is nearly two lockouts ago. With 85 shots in 42 games, he’s on pace for a career-low in a full season there, too. The Ducks gave this man a six-year, $41.25 million extension over the summer.

Kesler’s possession numbers are solid, so there’s hope for the second half. But he was acquired from Vancouver to provide secondary punch and he’s barely offering tertiary slap. It’s possible the 31-year-old is hitting a wall after years of injuries and won’t get any better.

Hopefully this was just as uplifting to read as it was to write.

Contract information via General Fanager.