Dolphin Ratings - National Hockey League

Explanation: Each team is listed with its record, overall score differential, and its ratings. Brief explanations of the ratings follow.

Schedule The number in this column is the effective opponent strength of a team. In other words, they would be expected to have the same record had they played all games against an opponent of this predictive rating at a neutral site. Because this calculation depends on the strength of the team in question, it is not possible to rank schedules using these values.
Expected Losses For college teams, this number is the number of losses an average ranked (top 15 hockey; otherwise top 25) team would be expected to have against the team's schedule. For pro teams, this is the number of losses an average team would be expected to have against the team's schedule. Unlike the schedule ranking, this value can be used to rank schedules.
Standard Ranks teams in an order such that a team is "probably better" than all teams ranked lower than it. This calculation uses margin of victory only for computing a team's opponents strengths; the team's rating itself is computed using only wins, losses, and ties relative to its schedule
Median Likelihood Determines the likely ratings for each team, based on its wins, losses, and ties relative to its schedule. This generally produces the same or similar ratings as the standard ranking.
Predictive Both schedule strength and rating vs. schedule strength are determined considering both the wins and losses and the score differentials. This rating contains none of the biases in the standard rating, but does weight recent games slightly more than past games since those are a better indication of the team's current strength. This rating is the best of the first three for seeing how good teams are, and thus is the best for predicting future results.
Improved RPI Rating The improved RPI formula is similar to the standard RPI, except that the schedule strength is carried out to infinite depth instead of ending with opponents' opponents, thus allows for a better comparison of isolated groups of teams than is given by the standard RPI calculation. It is similar to the simple rating, except that all games are given equal weight.
Scoring. This value indicates how many points a team would be expected to score if it played an identical team.
Offense. This combines the predictive and scoring ratings to measure how many points a team scores. The number is the predictive rating of an opponent against whom the team would be expected to score the league average number of points. This does not necessarily rate a team's offensive abilities, as a fast pace in basketball or big-play defense in football can make a team score more points.
Defense. This combines the predictive and scoring ratings to measure how many points a team allows. The number is the predictive rating of an opponent against whom the team would be expected to allow the league average number of points. The same caveat in the predictive-offense rating applies here.

In order to increase early-season stability, the three main rankings, the improved RPI, and the college pseudopoll include priors based on the previous season final predictive ratings and occasionally incorporating preseason predictions of various major publications. The other rankings for college sports do not include priors, and thus can be wildly unstable early in the year. A team whose rankings are affected by this prior is noted with a P following its rankings.

Full Ranking

                                             STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
AVALANCHE      24  9 133  77 -0.001 16.333    1  0.189    1  0.171    1  0.292    1 0.5576   18  1.076    2  0.302    4  0.281
HURRICANES     21 11 108  90  0.033 16.512    2  0.130    2  0.125    6  0.084    2 0.5419   16  1.100    9  0.125   13  0.044
STARS          22 12 115  90 -0.008 16.912    3  0.113    3  0.109    2  0.121    3 0.5335   20  1.044   11  0.093   10  0.150
BRUINS         20 14 113 106  0.036 17.636    4  0.078    4  0.079    9  0.048    4 0.5271    7  1.182    4  0.191   17 -0.095
ISLANDERS      19 15 102  96  0.088 18.335    5  0.069    6  0.072    7  0.064    5 0.5245   26  0.969   24 -0.052    6  0.179
DUCKS          20 14 121 112  0.018 17.449    6  0.068    5  0.072   12  0.022    6 0.5234    2  1.292    1  0.309   30 -0.265
WILD           20 14 104  87  0.002 17.087    7  0.066    7  0.068    3  0.109    7 0.5201   28  0.883   25 -0.103    2  0.320
DEVILS         18 15  97 103  0.053 17.459    9  0.042    8  0.051   17 -0.014    8 0.5177   21  1.041   22 -0.045   14  0.018
LIGHTNING      18 15 106  88  0.038 17.093    8  0.043    9  0.044    5  0.097    9 0.5164   23  1.019   17  0.039    9  0.154
CAPITALS       18 15 106  88  0.019 16.835   10  0.034   10  0.039    4  0.106   10 0.5137   22  1.021   15  0.051    7  0.161
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
PANTHERS       17 15 103 101  0.028 16.554   11  0.025   11  0.031   13  0.018   11 0.5105    4  1.200    5  0.183   20 -0.148
FLYERS         17 15  96  89  0.002 16.200   13  0.018   13  0.023   11  0.023   12 0.5090   29  0.874   28 -0.199    5  0.245
RED WINGS      19 15 107 111 -0.069 16.331   12  0.019   12  0.024   21 -0.046   13 0.5090    8  1.179   12  0.093   27 -0.185
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 16 15  96  90  0.011 15.772   14  0.012   15  0.014    8  0.052   14 0.5083   25  1.000   21 -0.028   11  0.132
SHARKS         17 17 102 113  0.046 17.965   15  0.008   14  0.016   23 -0.056   15 0.5039   12  1.148   16  0.043   21 -0.155
CANADIENS      17 16 106 117 -0.041 16.263   16 -0.005   16 -0.001   25 -0.062   16 0.4969    3  1.253    6  0.172   31 -0.296
SENATORS       15 17 101 104 -0.013 16.086   17 -0.025   17 -0.028   20 -0.029   17 0.4927    5  1.185   10  0.117   26 -0.175
RANGERS        16 19  89  95  0.017 18.080   18 -0.026   18 -0.028   24 -0.058   18 0.4915   31  0.740   32 -0.421    3  0.305
OILERS         16 18 116 118 -0.032 16.806   20 -0.029   20 -0.034   18 -0.015   19 0.4907    1  1.293    3  0.273   32 -0.302
MAMMOTH        16 19 107 105 -0.007 17.648   21 -0.031   21 -0.035   15 -0.009   20 0.4895   19  1.058   20 -0.021   16  0.002
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
JETS           15 17  98  99 -0.018 16.025   19 -0.026   19 -0.028   19 -0.028   21 0.4893   11  1.156   13  0.081   19 -0.138
MAPLE LEAFS    15 17 105 104 -0.069 15.326   22 -0.038   22 -0.044   16 -0.011   22 0.4862    6  1.185    8  0.135   22 -0.156
SABRES         14 18  98 109 -0.008 16.230   24 -0.042   24 -0.049   26 -0.067   23 0.4843   10  1.164   14  0.052   28 -0.187
KINGS          14 18  84  86  0.010 16.324   23 -0.038   23 -0.044   14  0.009   24 0.4841   32  0.698   31 -0.395    1  0.414
BLUE JACKETS   14 19 100 115  0.011 17.003   26 -0.049   25 -0.054   28 -0.087   25 0.4826   14  1.127   19 -0.014   23 -0.161
PENGUINS       14 18 103 102 -0.031 15.761   25 -0.046   26 -0.056   10  0.028   26 0.4816    9  1.169    7  0.154   18 -0.098
PREDATORS      13 19  92 111  0.012 16.537   27 -0.059   27 -0.064   27 -0.087   27 0.4762   13  1.129   18 -0.011   24 -0.163
CANUCKS        13 20  92 112 -0.007 16.831   28 -0.076   28 -0.081   31 -0.109   28 0.4731   15  1.116   23 -0.050   25 -0.168
KRAKEN         12 19  77  98 -0.015 15.656   29 -0.083   29 -0.086   29 -0.100   29 0.4705   30  0.842   30 -0.357    8  0.156
BLACKHAWKS     13 20  93 101 -0.057 16.021   30 -0.093   30 -0.098   22 -0.049   30 0.4681   24  1.013   26 -0.113   15  0.016
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
FLAMES         13 21  87 103 -0.059 16.551   31 -0.110   31 -0.109   30 -0.103   31 0.4651   27  0.903   29 -0.293   12  0.086
BLUES          12 22  86 123 -0.061 16.588   32 -0.139   32 -0.132   32 -0.160   32 0.4578   17  1.090   27 -0.133   29 -0.188

PACIFIC DIVISION
                                             STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
DUCKS          20 14 121 112  0.018 17.449    6  0.068    5  0.072   12  0.022    6 0.5234    2  1.292    1  0.309   30 -0.265
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 16 15  96  90  0.011 15.772   14  0.012   15  0.014    8  0.052   14 0.5083   25  1.000   21 -0.028   11  0.132
SHARKS         17 17 102 113  0.046 17.965   15  0.008   14  0.016   23 -0.056   15 0.5039   12  1.148   16  0.043   21 -0.155
OILERS         16 18 116 118 -0.032 16.806   20 -0.029   20 -0.034   18 -0.015   19 0.4907    1  1.293    3  0.273   32 -0.302
KINGS          14 18  84  86  0.010 16.324   23 -0.038   23 -0.044   14  0.009   24 0.4841   32  0.698   31 -0.395    1  0.414
CANUCKS        13 20  92 112 -0.007 16.831   28 -0.076   28 -0.081   31 -0.109   28 0.4731   15  1.116   23 -0.050   25 -0.168
KRAKEN         12 19  77  98 -0.015 15.656   29 -0.083   29 -0.086   29 -0.100   29 0.4705   30  0.842   30 -0.357    8  0.156
FLAMES         13 21  87 103 -0.059 16.551   31 -0.110   31 -0.109   30 -0.103   31 0.4651   27  0.903   29 -0.293   12  0.086

CENTRAL DIVISION
                                             STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
AVALANCHE      24  9 133  77 -0.001 16.333    1  0.189    1  0.171    1  0.292    1 0.5576   18  1.076    2  0.302    4  0.281
STARS          22 12 115  90 -0.008 16.912    3  0.113    3  0.109    2  0.121    3 0.5335   20  1.044   11  0.093   10  0.150
WILD           20 14 104  87  0.002 17.087    7  0.066    7  0.068    3  0.109    7 0.5201   28  0.883   25 -0.103    2  0.320
MAMMOTH        16 19 107 105 -0.007 17.648   21 -0.031   21 -0.035   15 -0.009   20 0.4895   19  1.058   20 -0.021   16  0.002
JETS           15 17  98  99 -0.018 16.025   19 -0.026   19 -0.028   19 -0.028   21 0.4893   11  1.156   13  0.081   19 -0.138
PREDATORS      13 19  92 111  0.012 16.537   27 -0.059   27 -0.064   27 -0.087   27 0.4762   13  1.129   18 -0.011   24 -0.163
BLACKHAWKS     13 20  93 101 -0.057 16.021   30 -0.093   30 -0.098   22 -0.049   30 0.4681   24  1.013   26 -0.113   15  0.016
BLUES          12 22  86 123 -0.061 16.588   32 -0.139   32 -0.132   32 -0.160   32 0.4578   17  1.090   27 -0.133   29 -0.188

METROPOLITAN DIVISION
                                             STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
HURRICANES     21 11 108  90  0.033 16.512    2  0.130    2  0.125    6  0.084    2 0.5419   16  1.100    9  0.125   13  0.044
ISLANDERS      19 15 102  96  0.088 18.335    5  0.069    6  0.072    7  0.064    5 0.5245   26  0.969   24 -0.052    6  0.179
DEVILS         18 15  97 103  0.053 17.459    9  0.042    8  0.051   17 -0.014    8 0.5177   21  1.041   22 -0.045   14  0.018
CAPITALS       18 15 106  88  0.019 16.835   10  0.034   10  0.039    4  0.106   10 0.5137   22  1.021   15  0.051    7  0.161
FLYERS         17 15  96  89  0.002 16.200   13  0.018   13  0.023   11  0.023   12 0.5090   29  0.874   28 -0.199    5  0.245
RANGERS        16 19  89  95  0.017 18.080   18 -0.026   18 -0.028   24 -0.058   18 0.4915   31  0.740   32 -0.421    3  0.305
BLUE JACKETS   14 19 100 115  0.011 17.003   26 -0.049   25 -0.054   28 -0.087   25 0.4826   14  1.127   19 -0.014   23 -0.161
PENGUINS       14 18 103 102 -0.031 15.761   25 -0.046   26 -0.056   10  0.028   26 0.4816    9  1.169    7  0.154   18 -0.098

ATLANTIC DIVISION
                                             STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
BRUINS         20 14 113 106  0.036 17.636    4  0.078    4  0.079    9  0.048    4 0.5271    7  1.182    4  0.191   17 -0.095
LIGHTNING      18 15 106  88  0.038 17.093    8  0.043    9  0.044    5  0.097    9 0.5164   23  1.019   17  0.039    9  0.154
PANTHERS       17 15 103 101  0.028 16.554   11  0.025   11  0.031   13  0.018   11 0.5105    4  1.200    5  0.183   20 -0.148
RED WINGS      19 15 107 111 -0.069 16.331   12  0.019   12  0.024   21 -0.046   13 0.5090    8  1.179   12  0.093   27 -0.185
CANADIENS      17 16 106 117 -0.041 16.263   16 -0.005   16 -0.001   25 -0.062   16 0.4969    3  1.253    6  0.172   31 -0.296
SENATORS       15 17 101 104 -0.013 16.086   17 -0.025   17 -0.028   20 -0.029   17 0.4927    5  1.185   10  0.117   26 -0.175
MAPLE LEAFS    15 17 105 104 -0.069 15.326   22 -0.038   22 -0.044   16 -0.011   22 0.4862    6  1.185    8  0.135   22 -0.156
SABRES         14 18  98 109 -0.008 16.230   24 -0.042   24 -0.049   26 -0.067   23 0.4843   10  1.164   14  0.052   28 -0.187

DIVISION                W   L   PCT  RNK RATING
CENTRAL DIVISION      135 132 0.506    1  0.055
METROPOLITAN DIVISION 137 127 0.519    2  0.047
ATLANTIC DIVISION     135 127 0.515    3 -0.016
PACIFIC DIVISION      121 142 0.460    4 -0.093

Home field advantage amounts to:
     0.038 points in main ratings (0.079 for semineutral)
     0.006 points in improved RPI (0.008 for semineutral)
Average of 1.00 points per score

Predict score:








Team Strength vs. Time Plot:






posted: Wed Dec 17 05:30:13 2025
games through: Tue Dec 16 2025

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