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      35 16 200 127 -0.002 25.148    1  0.217    1  0.203    1  0.341    1 0.5464   17  1.098    1  0.358    2  0.324
DUCKS          28 25 177 188  0.023 27.168   13  0.033   13  0.042   23 -0.050   12 0.5088    1  1.322    2  0.257   32 -0.358
OILERS         27 27 186 175 -0.030 26.394   17 -0.006   18 -0.014   12  0.040   18 0.4962    3  1.249    3  0.251   27 -0.170
SENATORS       25 28 179 176  0.003 26.639   20 -0.017   20 -0.030   14  0.014   20 0.4935    2  1.257    4  0.234   28 -0.206
SABRES         30 22 179 159 -0.003 25.933    5  0.073    5  0.082    6  0.071    5 0.5193    7  1.187    5  0.201   21 -0.058
CANADIENS      29 24 180 177  0.003 26.653   10  0.045   10  0.053   15  0.011   11 0.5099    6  1.226    6  0.190   26 -0.168
MAPLE LEAFS    24 29 174 183  0.007 26.785   24 -0.037   24 -0.047   18 -0.016   23 0.4900    4  1.238    7  0.180   29 -0.212
LIGHTNING      33 18 179 130  0.005 25.428    2  0.170    2  0.161    2  0.208    2 0.5376   20  1.050    8  0.168    3  0.248
BRUINS         31 23 180 168 -0.002 26.973    6  0.072    6  0.082    9  0.055    6 0.5179    8  1.172    9  0.165   20 -0.055
HURRICANES     32 20 180 150 -0.004 25.860    3  0.125    3  0.126    4  0.116    3 0.5294   14  1.116   10  0.156   11  0.075
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
SHARKS         27 24 161 176  0.022 26.149   12  0.034   12  0.043   25 -0.072   13 0.5085    5  1.227   11  0.109   30 -0.253
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 25 27 173 164 -0.017 25.690   19 -0.017   19 -0.029   13  0.038   19 0.4958   10  1.140   12  0.108   18 -0.031
PENGUINS       26 25 169 152 -0.036 24.777   16  0.002   16 -0.004    7  0.068   16 0.5005   16  1.099   13  0.088   13  0.049
CAPITALS       25 29 171 164 -0.006 26.921   23 -0.032   23 -0.045   10  0.042   22 0.4918   15  1.111   14  0.076   16  0.008
STARS          30 23 176 147 -0.016 26.105    7  0.057    7  0.066    3  0.117    7 0.5150   21  1.046   15  0.072    6  0.162
PANTHERS       28 24 160 169  0.024 26.646   11  0.043   11  0.053   20 -0.025    9 0.5120    9  1.156   16  0.065   24 -0.114
BLUE JACKETS   25 27 163 172  0.022 26.627   18 -0.006   17 -0.011   22 -0.044   17 0.4966   11  1.140   17  0.026   23 -0.113
WILD           30 24 175 157 -0.015 26.665    9  0.047    9  0.056    5  0.089   10 0.5110   23  1.031   18  0.025    7  0.152
MAMMOTH        28 25 167 146  0.000 26.513   14  0.027   14  0.031    8  0.058   14 0.5081   25  0.995   19 -0.047    5  0.163
RED WINGS      32 22 168 162 -0.017 26.715    4  0.086    4  0.097   16  0.006    4 0.5208   22  1.035   20 -0.052   12  0.064
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
FLYERS         24 28 157 167  0.012 26.414   21 -0.025   21 -0.036   21 -0.040   21 0.4925   19  1.070   21 -0.056   17 -0.024
JETS           21 31 153 161 -0.007 26.029   28 -0.104   28 -0.109   24 -0.054   28 0.4747   18  1.077   22 -0.062   19 -0.046
PREDATORS      24 28 150 177  0.009 26.479   22 -0.027   22 -0.036   28 -0.117   24 0.4888   13  1.123   23 -0.069   25 -0.166
ISLANDERS      29 24 155 148  0.016 26.876    8  0.050    8  0.060   11  0.041    8 0.5135   30  0.924   24 -0.145    4  0.227
CANUCKS        17 36 141 196 -0.009 26.746   32 -0.220   32 -0.203   32 -0.245   32 0.4568   12  1.139   25 -0.176   31 -0.313
KRAKEN         24 28 148 155 -0.025 25.611   25 -0.042   25 -0.054   19 -0.023   25 0.4886   28  0.943   26 -0.187    8  0.141
BLACKHAWKS     21 32 144 168 -0.024 26.222   30 -0.127   30 -0.125   27 -0.103   30 0.4712   26  0.976   27 -0.230   15  0.025
DEVILS         27 26 141 163  0.039 27.543   15  0.022   15  0.028   26 -0.082   15 0.5064   29  0.926   28 -0.265   10  0.102
BLUES          19 34 130 183 -0.013 26.568   31 -0.177   31 -0.163   31 -0.182   31 0.4632   24  1.001   29 -0.280   22 -0.084
RANGERS        22 32 145 170  0.029 27.900   27 -0.082   27 -0.090   29 -0.121   27 0.4812   27  0.945   30 -0.283   14  0.042
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
KINGS          22 29 137 144  0.007 25.767   26 -0.059   26 -0.071   17 -0.013   26 0.4836   32  0.771   31 -0.363    1  0.337
FLAMES         21 31 132 156 -0.036 25.487   29 -0.124   29 -0.121   30 -0.126   29 0.4723   31  0.869   32 -0.372    9  0.121

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          28 25 177 188  0.023 27.168   13  0.033   13  0.042   23 -0.050   12 0.5088    1  1.322    2  0.257   32 -0.358
OILERS         27 27 186 175 -0.030 26.394   17 -0.006   18 -0.014   12  0.040   18 0.4962    3  1.249    3  0.251   27 -0.170
SHARKS         27 24 161 176  0.022 26.149   12  0.034   12  0.043   25 -0.072   13 0.5085    5  1.227   11  0.109   30 -0.253
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 25 27 173 164 -0.017 25.690   19 -0.017   19 -0.029   13  0.038   19 0.4958   10  1.140   12  0.108   18 -0.031
CANUCKS        17 36 141 196 -0.009 26.746   32 -0.220   32 -0.203   32 -0.245   32 0.4568   12  1.139   25 -0.176   31 -0.313
KRAKEN         24 28 148 155 -0.025 25.611   25 -0.042   25 -0.054   19 -0.023   25 0.4886   28  0.943   26 -0.187    8  0.141
KINGS          22 29 137 144  0.007 25.767   26 -0.059   26 -0.071   17 -0.013   26 0.4836   32  0.771   31 -0.363    1  0.337
FLAMES         21 31 132 156 -0.036 25.487   29 -0.124   29 -0.121   30 -0.126   29 0.4723   31  0.869   32 -0.372    9  0.121

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      35 16 200 127 -0.002 25.148    1  0.217    1  0.203    1  0.341    1 0.5464   17  1.098    1  0.358    2  0.324
STARS          30 23 176 147 -0.016 26.105    7  0.057    7  0.066    3  0.117    7 0.5150   21  1.046   15  0.072    6  0.162
WILD           30 24 175 157 -0.015 26.665    9  0.047    9  0.056    5  0.089   10 0.5110   23  1.031   18  0.025    7  0.152
MAMMOTH        28 25 167 146  0.000 26.513   14  0.027   14  0.031    8  0.058   14 0.5081   25  0.995   19 -0.047    5  0.163
JETS           21 31 153 161 -0.007 26.029   28 -0.104   28 -0.109   24 -0.054   28 0.4747   18  1.077   22 -0.062   19 -0.046
PREDATORS      24 28 150 177  0.009 26.479   22 -0.027   22 -0.036   28 -0.117   24 0.4888   13  1.123   23 -0.069   25 -0.166
BLACKHAWKS     21 32 144 168 -0.024 26.222   30 -0.127   30 -0.125   27 -0.103   30 0.4712   26  0.976   27 -0.230   15  0.025
BLUES          19 34 130 183 -0.013 26.568   31 -0.177   31 -0.163   31 -0.182   31 0.4632   24  1.001   29 -0.280   22 -0.084

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     32 20 180 150 -0.004 25.860    3  0.125    3  0.126    4  0.116    3 0.5294   14  1.116   10  0.156   11  0.075
PENGUINS       26 25 169 152 -0.036 24.777   16  0.002   16 -0.004    7  0.068   16 0.5005   16  1.099   13  0.088   13  0.049
CAPITALS       25 29 171 164 -0.006 26.921   23 -0.032   23 -0.045   10  0.042   22 0.4918   15  1.111   14  0.076   16  0.008
BLUE JACKETS   25 27 163 172  0.022 26.627   18 -0.006   17 -0.011   22 -0.044   17 0.4966   11  1.140   17  0.026   23 -0.113
FLYERS         24 28 157 167  0.012 26.414   21 -0.025   21 -0.036   21 -0.040   21 0.4925   19  1.070   21 -0.056   17 -0.024
ISLANDERS      29 24 155 148  0.016 26.876    8  0.050    8  0.060   11  0.041    8 0.5135   30  0.924   24 -0.145    4  0.227
DEVILS         27 26 141 163  0.039 27.543   15  0.022   15  0.028   26 -0.082   15 0.5064   29  0.926   28 -0.265   10  0.102
RANGERS        22 32 145 170  0.029 27.900   27 -0.082   27 -0.090   29 -0.121   27 0.4812   27  0.945   30 -0.283   14  0.042

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
SENATORS       25 28 179 176  0.003 26.639   20 -0.017   20 -0.030   14  0.014   20 0.4935    2  1.257    4  0.234   28 -0.206
SABRES         30 22 179 159 -0.003 25.933    5  0.073    5  0.082    6  0.071    5 0.5193    7  1.187    5  0.201   21 -0.058
CANADIENS      29 24 180 177  0.003 26.653   10  0.045   10  0.053   15  0.011   11 0.5099    6  1.226    6  0.190   26 -0.168
MAPLE LEAFS    24 29 174 183  0.007 26.785   24 -0.037   24 -0.047   18 -0.016   23 0.4900    4  1.238    7  0.180   29 -0.212
LIGHTNING      33 18 179 130  0.005 25.428    2  0.170    2  0.161    2  0.208    2 0.5376   20  1.050    8  0.168    3  0.248
BRUINS         31 23 180 168 -0.002 26.973    6  0.072    6  0.082    9  0.055    6 0.5179    8  1.172    9  0.165   20 -0.055
PANTHERS       28 24 160 169  0.024 26.646   11  0.043   11  0.053   20 -0.025    9 0.5120    9  1.156   16  0.065   24 -0.114
RED WINGS      32 22 168 162 -0.017 26.715    4  0.086    4  0.097   16  0.006    4 0.5208   22  1.035   20 -0.052   12  0.064

DIVISION                W   L   PCT  RNK RATING
ATLANTIC DIVISION     232 190 0.550    1  0.073
CENTRAL DIVISION      208 213 0.494    2  0.031
METROPOLITAN DIVISION 210 211 0.499    3 -0.004
PACIFIC DIVISION      191 227 0.457    4 -0.102

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

Predict score:








Team Strength vs. Time Plot:






posted: Thu Jan 29 05:30:11 2026
games through: Wed Jan 28 2026

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