When you’re the last-placed Vancouver Canucks, you have to take the victories where you can get them. And one Canuck recently found their name in the mix for a major league-wide honour.

As part of The Athletic’s annual NHL player polls, Conor Garland finished fourth place for the league’s ‘Most Punchable Face’, as voted on by his peers. Out of the 107 anonymous NHL players who responded, Garland earned 4.7% of the vote (three votes in total), tying him with Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek.

But the gap between Garland and the top three vote-getters is steep. Ottawa’s Nick Cousins ran away with the title, earning nearly a quarter of the votes, while Florida’s Brad Marchand and Matthew Tkachuk each more than doubled Garland as well. It’s not a huge surprise to see Garland on such a list. The 29-year-old winger has long been known as a thorn in opposing players’ sides, going back to his time with the Arizona Coyotes when Nathan MacKinnon threw Garland’s own helmet at him during a scrum.

Heck, MacKinnon might be one of the players who voted for him! Or maybe it was Trevor Zegras, who got into a very one-sided fight with Garland last season as a member of the Anaheim Ducks.

Garland’s ability to agitate and infuriate players with his aggressive play is a big feature of his game. Add in his scoring touch with four straight 40+ point seasons, and packing it all into his sub-5’10” frame is what makes Garland stick out as a thorn to the rest of the league’s players.

Despite signing a six-year extension worth $36 million on July 1, it’s worth wondering if Garland will even be a Canuck when it kicks in, now that the team has begun the process of a rebuild by trading Quinn Hughes. And with his skillset, any opponent that despises Garland on the ice would probably be stoked if their team acquired him.

But until that day comes, Garland and his “punchable face” will remain a major part of the Vancouver Canucks.