Brad Marchand is building his own dynasty in the respectful-hatred department in NHL

BOSTON -- There may be no greater compliment in professional hockey than being considered someone whom absolutely nobody wants to play against ... but everyone wouldn't mind being teammates with.

There may be no better example of such a player than Bruins captain Brad Marchand, and players around the league agree.

For the third straight year, Marchand was "honored" by his peers by getting the most votes as the player that other NHL players least enjoy facing but would want on their team. Marchand took home 29.2 percent of the vote, "winning" that category for the third straight season.

Connor McDavid finished second, but not because of any on-ice behavior that gets under opponents' skin. McDavid got those votes by simply being the most lethal offensive player in the game.

Matthew Tkachuk, who brings a strong blend of skill and nastiness to every shift for the Panthers, finished third, but he received just 7.6 percent of the votes. Tom Wilson, who dangerously and often illegally injures opponents with violence while bringing some offensive ability, came in fourth, ahead of Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon.

The only other Bruins player to land in the top five of any of the other questions was David Pastrnak, who took home the honor of being the most stylish player in the NHL, according to his peers.

Interestingly enough, despite having the best regular season in NHL history last year and sitting at or near the top of the league standings for all of this season, the Bruins didn't have any players land in the top five for questions like "If you need to win one game, who is the goalie/forward/defenseman you want on your team?" 

Reigning Vezina winner Linus Ullmark, who has struggled in the playoffs in his career, was not a top-five pick, with Nashville's Juuse Saros getting that fifth spot with 4.9 percent of the vote. (Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy, a two-time Stanley Cup winner, was the top vote-getter with 46.9 percent.)

The aforementioned Pastrnak, who's scored 148 games over the last three seasons, didn't land in the top-five forward vote, with Artemi Panarin coming in fifth with 2.6 percent of the vote. (McDavid was the top vote-getter, with 48.7 percent of the vote. Sidney Crosby was second, way down at 11.6 percent.)

And Charlie McAvoy, the Bruins' best defenseman, wasn't in the top five at his position, with Adam Fox getting 2.4 percent of the vote. (Cale Makar received 56.4 percent as the top vote-getter.)

Other categories included "most complete player," "best stick-handler," "best playmaker," "player most difficult to face in their own end," "best at winning faceoffs" and "best breakout passer." With Patrice Bergeron enjoying retirement, the Bruins are not represented in any of those categories.

As far as Boston hockey players go, there was one more representative, as Hilary Knight came in second in the category for PWHL player that NHL players most enjoy watching.