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      43 19 238 155  0.006 30.959    1  0.265    1  0.265    1  0.377    1 0.5491   17  1.082    1  0.370    1  0.384
LIGHTNING      39 23 223 172  0.009 31.196    2  0.187    3  0.176    2  0.210    2 0.5336   12  1.144    4  0.279    8  0.140
HURRICANES     40 23 224 183 -0.012 31.268    3  0.186    2  0.176    4  0.151    3 0.5324    9  1.167    6  0.250   15  0.052
SABRES         39 25 225 193  0.016 32.487    4  0.163    4  0.156    6  0.132    4 0.5287    7  1.199    5  0.272   18 -0.007
STARS          39 24 220 173 -0.023 30.935    5  0.152    5  0.147    3  0.176    5 0.5261   19  1.073   10  0.158    3  0.194
WILD           37 27 215 185  0.004 32.157    6  0.101    6  0.107    5  0.141    6 0.5182   20  1.065   12  0.113    6  0.169
ISLANDERS      36 28 188 183  0.002 32.296    8  0.075    8  0.086   14  0.018    7 0.5169   29  0.943   21 -0.152    4  0.189
RED WINGS      36 28 189 190  0.003 32.340    7  0.075    7  0.087   17 -0.004    8 0.5154   28  0.958   22 -0.157    7  0.148
BRUINS         35 28 212 200  0.006 31.806    9  0.069    9  0.077    9  0.068    9 0.5138    8  1.189    9  0.195   21 -0.059
DUCKS          35 28 211 221  0.001 31.899   11  0.065   10  0.075   23 -0.073   10 0.5127    2  1.302    8  0.202   32 -0.348
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
CANADIENS      34 28 222 209  0.019 31.631   10  0.067   11  0.075   10  0.068   11 0.5119    3  1.290    3  0.327   26 -0.192
MAMMOTH        34 29 201 173  0.009 31.848   12  0.052   12  0.057    8  0.089   12 0.5112   22  1.009   19 -0.005    5  0.183
BLUE JACKETS   32 30 200 198  0.000 31.264   13  0.020   13  0.022   16  0.002   13 0.5040   14  1.141   15  0.067   22 -0.064
DEVILS         32 32 166 192  0.018 32.889   14  0.006   14  0.010   27 -0.123   14 0.5029   30  0.867   31 -0.378    9  0.131
PANTHERS       31 32 191 210  0.021 32.377   16  0.001   16  0.001   20 -0.065   15 0.5014   10  1.166   17  0.032   25 -0.163
SENATORS       31 31 212 198  0.009 31.391   15  0.006   15  0.005   11  0.066   16 0.5008    5  1.223    7  0.236   24 -0.104
PENGUINS       32 31 213 188 -0.034 30.787   17 -0.003   17 -0.007    7  0.098   17 0.4997   16  1.115   11  0.132   13  0.064
CAPITALS       31 33 200 192 -0.006 32.060   19 -0.018   19 -0.026   12  0.043   18 0.4972   18  1.076   18  0.028   14  0.058
SHARKS         30 31 189 212  0.001 30.941   18 -0.009   18 -0.010   25 -0.114   19 0.4972    6  1.207   16  0.035   29 -0.263
OILERS         31 33 227 218 -0.027 31.518   20 -0.027   21 -0.037   13  0.028   20 0.4932    1  1.325    2  0.335   30 -0.278
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
FLYERS         29 33 181 194  0.015 31.698   21 -0.028   20 -0.035   19 -0.055   21 0.4931   25  0.986   23 -0.176   12  0.066
KRAKEN         29 33 177 186 -0.033 30.478   22 -0.051   22 -0.062   18 -0.037   22 0.4889   27  0.961   25 -0.186   10  0.113
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 29 35 209 205 -0.016 31.838   24 -0.060   24 -0.073   15  0.010   23 0.4880   13  1.143   14  0.078   20 -0.058
PREDATORS      28 35 187 216  0.014 32.291   23 -0.057   23 -0.066   26 -0.116   24 0.4864   11  1.160   20 -0.027   27 -0.206
MAPLE LEAFS    27 37 202 226  0.005 32.488   25 -0.096   25 -0.102   24 -0.074   25 0.4817    4  1.225   13  0.098   28 -0.247
JETS           26 36 178 189 -0.011 31.067   26 -0.111   26 -0.114   21 -0.068   26 0.4792   23  0.992   24 -0.182   16  0.046
KINGS          25 37 163 186  0.013 31.686   27 -0.121   27 -0.122   22 -0.069   27 0.4772   32  0.825   30 -0.368    2  0.230
RANGERS        24 38 169 198  0.027 32.096   28 -0.141   28 -0.136   28 -0.140   28 0.4759   26  0.965   29 -0.284   17  0.005
BLUES          25 38 166 212 -0.013 31.610   30 -0.151   30 -0.146   30 -0.146   29 0.4734   21  1.039   26 -0.205   23 -0.088
FLAMES         25 37 155 189 -0.027 30.762   29 -0.150   29 -0.144   31 -0.167   30 0.4728   31  0.856   32 -0.434   11  0.099
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
BLACKHAWKS     23 40 169 205 -0.018 31.505   31 -0.200   31 -0.192   29 -0.145   31 0.4646   24  0.986   28 -0.266   19 -0.024
CANUCKS        19 44 165 236 -0.007 31.958   32 -0.268   32 -0.273   32 -0.294   32 0.4514   15  1.125   27 -0.249   31 -0.339

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          35 28 211 221  0.001 31.899   11  0.065   10  0.075   23 -0.073   10 0.5127    2  1.302    8  0.202   32 -0.348
SHARKS         30 31 189 212  0.001 30.941   18 -0.009   18 -0.010   25 -0.114   19 0.4972    6  1.207   16  0.035   29 -0.263
OILERS         31 33 227 218 -0.027 31.518   20 -0.027   21 -0.037   13  0.028   20 0.4932    1  1.325    2  0.335   30 -0.278
KRAKEN         29 33 177 186 -0.033 30.478   22 -0.051   22 -0.062   18 -0.037   22 0.4889   27  0.961   25 -0.186   10  0.113
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 29 35 209 205 -0.016 31.838   24 -0.060   24 -0.073   15  0.010   23 0.4880   13  1.143   14  0.078   20 -0.058
KINGS          25 37 163 186  0.013 31.686   27 -0.121   27 -0.122   22 -0.069   27 0.4772   32  0.825   30 -0.368    2  0.230
FLAMES         25 37 155 189 -0.027 30.762   29 -0.150   29 -0.144   31 -0.167   30 0.4728   31  0.856   32 -0.434   11  0.099
CANUCKS        19 44 165 236 -0.007 31.958   32 -0.268   32 -0.273   32 -0.294   32 0.4514   15  1.125   27 -0.249   31 -0.339

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      43 19 238 155  0.006 30.959    1  0.265    1  0.265    1  0.377    1 0.5491   17  1.082    1  0.370    1  0.384
STARS          39 24 220 173 -0.023 30.935    5  0.152    5  0.147    3  0.176    5 0.5261   19  1.073   10  0.158    3  0.194
WILD           37 27 215 185  0.004 32.157    6  0.101    6  0.107    5  0.141    6 0.5182   20  1.065   12  0.113    6  0.169
MAMMOTH        34 29 201 173  0.009 31.848   12  0.052   12  0.057    8  0.089   12 0.5112   22  1.009   19 -0.005    5  0.183
PREDATORS      28 35 187 216  0.014 32.291   23 -0.057   23 -0.066   26 -0.116   24 0.4864   11  1.160   20 -0.027   27 -0.206
JETS           26 36 178 189 -0.011 31.067   26 -0.111   26 -0.114   21 -0.068   26 0.4792   23  0.992   24 -0.182   16  0.046
BLUES          25 38 166 212 -0.013 31.610   30 -0.151   30 -0.146   30 -0.146   29 0.4734   21  1.039   26 -0.205   23 -0.088
BLACKHAWKS     23 40 169 205 -0.018 31.505   31 -0.200   31 -0.192   29 -0.145   31 0.4646   24  0.986   28 -0.266   19 -0.024

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     40 23 224 183 -0.012 31.268    3  0.186    2  0.176    4  0.151    3 0.5324    9  1.167    6  0.250   15  0.052
ISLANDERS      36 28 188 183  0.002 32.296    8  0.075    8  0.086   14  0.018    7 0.5169   29  0.943   21 -0.152    4  0.189
BLUE JACKETS   32 30 200 198  0.000 31.264   13  0.020   13  0.022   16  0.002   13 0.5040   14  1.141   15  0.067   22 -0.064
DEVILS         32 32 166 192  0.018 32.889   14  0.006   14  0.010   27 -0.123   14 0.5029   30  0.867   31 -0.378    9  0.131
PENGUINS       32 31 213 188 -0.034 30.787   17 -0.003   17 -0.007    7  0.098   17 0.4997   16  1.115   11  0.132   13  0.064
CAPITALS       31 33 200 192 -0.006 32.060   19 -0.018   19 -0.026   12  0.043   18 0.4972   18  1.076   18  0.028   14  0.058
FLYERS         29 33 181 194  0.015 31.698   21 -0.028   20 -0.035   19 -0.055   21 0.4931   25  0.986   23 -0.176   12  0.066
RANGERS        24 38 169 198  0.027 32.096   28 -0.141   28 -0.136   28 -0.140   28 0.4759   26  0.965   29 -0.284   17  0.005

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
LIGHTNING      39 23 223 172  0.009 31.196    2  0.187    3  0.176    2  0.210    2 0.5336   12  1.144    4  0.279    8  0.140
SABRES         39 25 225 193  0.016 32.487    4  0.163    4  0.156    6  0.132    4 0.5287    7  1.199    5  0.272   18 -0.007
RED WINGS      36 28 189 190  0.003 32.340    7  0.075    7  0.087   17 -0.004    8 0.5154   28  0.958   22 -0.157    7  0.148
BRUINS         35 28 212 200  0.006 31.806    9  0.069    9  0.077    9  0.068    9 0.5138    8  1.189    9  0.195   21 -0.059
CANADIENS      34 28 222 209  0.019 31.631   10  0.067   11  0.075   10  0.068   11 0.5119    3  1.290    3  0.327   26 -0.192
PANTHERS       31 32 191 210  0.021 32.377   16  0.001   16  0.001   20 -0.065   15 0.5014   10  1.166   17  0.032   25 -0.163
SENATORS       31 31 212 198  0.009 31.391   15  0.006   15  0.005   11  0.066   16 0.5008    5  1.223    7  0.236   24 -0.104
MAPLE LEAFS    27 37 202 226  0.005 32.488   25 -0.096   25 -0.102   24 -0.074   25 0.4817    4  1.225   13  0.098   28 -0.247

DIVISION                W   L   PCT  RNK RATING
ATLANTIC DIVISION     272 232 0.540    1  0.078
CENTRAL DIVISION      255 248 0.507    2  0.058
METROPOLITAN DIVISION 256 248 0.508    3 -0.001
PACIFIC DIVISION      223 278 0.445    4 -0.139

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

Predict score:








Team Strength vs. Time Plot:






posted: Mon Mar  9 05:30:08 2026
games through: Sun Mar  8 2026

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