5. Tim Gleason

Sergei Belski - USA Today Sports

Any time anyone talks about Tim Gleason these days, they generally lead with his salary -- $4.5 million this season, in case anyone was wondering.

Gleason is making an absurd amount of money to be producing as little as he is. While the expectation was for him to show up, do his thing, put bodies into the boards, drop gloves, and the rest, he's been a complete disaster.

Two stints on injured reserve and vying for the title of Most Idiot Penalties In A Season shows that Gleason needs to be pointed away from Raleigh and given a shove. Who knew?

4. Andrej Sekera

Don McPeak - USA Today Sports

At the beginning of the season, Andrej Sekera had two questions hanging over his head. Why does he still have a roster spot, and is the J silent?

Starting out, Sekera was being held back by the untied shoelace that is Justin Faulk. Once someone told Sekera he could take things into his own hands, its gotten to the point that head coach Kirk Muller was quoted this week saying, if he had to pick an MVP right now, Sekera would be it. Slick puckhandling, great rink vision, and perfect chemistry has made Sekera an overall surprise.

Yes, the J is silent.

3. Jiri Tlusty

Sergei Belski - USA Today Sports

Apparently the best thing for a player is to stick his name in some trade rumors, take away ice time, and sit back to watch the turnaround unfold.

This was the case with Jiri Tlusty, as he was in serious danger of having to call a moving company less than a month ago. Muller put a little fear into Tlusty, and he's been bonkers ever since. It's only a matter of time before he becomes one of the most feared shooters in the Metropolitan Division.

2. Jeff Skinner

Chris Austin - USA Today Sports

What in the world has gotten into this kid?

Always a magnificent player, Jeff Skinner suddenly has been given the freehand to just do whatever and has gone blitzkrieg on everyone. In retrospect, making Skinner pass the puck a lot seems to have been a mistake. In December, all anyone has had to do was pass him the puck, point at the goal, and just let him do his thing.

Everyone knows Skinner is good, but nobody knew he was this good.

1. Justin Peters

Sergei Belski - USA Today Sports

Is there anyone more deserving of the top spot on this list than Justin Peters?

There is just nothing left to be said about Peters that he hasn't already said with his glove. Peters was an AHL call up, however, he cares not for such primitive labels. Instead of treading water, Peters just went ahead and painted the rink 12 shades of awesome. What's even better is that as Cam Ward gets less and less reliable, Peters plays better and better.

With Anton Khudobin coming back off of injured reserve, one of them needs to go. Peters is making it one of the toughest decisions a GM can make. Rest assured, Jim Rutherford will still find a way to screw it up.