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
BRUINS         7 2 34 19  0.010  4.364    2  0.131    1  0.129    1  0.161    1 0.5559   15  1.107    8  0.206   10  0.117 P
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 8 2 42 24 -0.128  4.275    1  0.132    2  0.127    3  0.138    5 0.5430   14  1.109   10  0.186   12  0.090 P
LIGHTNING      6 2 25 21  0.056  4.083    3  0.123    3  0.122    9  0.086    2 0.5538   19  1.053   16  0.065   11  0.107 P
MAMMOTH        7 3 38 31  0.068  5.158    4  0.111    4  0.110   10  0.081    3 0.5450    9  1.237    7  0.291   20 -0.129 P
WILD           6 3 28 21  0.115  4.814    5  0.101    5  0.098    5  0.126    6 0.5421   28  0.905   20 -0.065    5  0.316 P
OILERS         6 2 37 24 -0.054  3.686    6  0.098    6  0.094    2  0.141    4 0.5444    6  1.339    2  0.488   22 -0.205 P
RANGERS        7 4 33 24  0.039  5.547    8  0.085    7  0.079    8  0.101    7 0.5383   30  0.787   25 -0.217    2  0.419 P
HURRICANES     7 3 36 24 -0.137  4.301    7  0.087    8  0.079    6  0.108    8 0.5335   18  1.061   15  0.098    8  0.119 P
CAPITALS       5 3 28 24  0.072  4.163    9  0.074    9  0.064   11  0.064    9 0.5328   11  1.182    9  0.203   18 -0.074 P
SENATORS       6 3 24 23 -0.070  4.204   10  0.072   10  0.063   16  0.001   10 0.5187   26  0.921   22 -0.173    6  0.174 P
TEAM           W L PF PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
AVALANCHE      5 4 38 27 -0.062  4.120   11  0.032   11  0.020    4  0.127   17 0.4944    1  1.495    1  0.696   31 -0.441 P
KRAKEN         5 4 35 31  0.014  4.508   13  0.024   12  0.018   14  0.015   11 0.5141    4  1.390    3  0.433   29 -0.402 P
PANTHERS       5 4 30 25 -0.048  4.257   12  0.029   13  0.016   13  0.038   12 0.5112   21  0.984   18 -0.063    7  0.140 P
STARS          4 4 20 13 -0.014  3.836   14  0.009   14 -0.000    7  0.103   18 0.4923   32  0.194   31 -0.734    1  0.941 P
JETS           4 4 23 24  0.012  4.012   15  0.007   15 -0.001   15  0.008   14 0.5007   22  0.978   21 -0.100    9  0.117 P
DUCKS          4 4 24 26  0.043  4.186   16  0.004   16 -0.008   22 -0.060   13 0.5036   13  1.158   17  0.048   21 -0.168 P
ISLANDERS      4 4 24 18 -0.044  3.780   17 -0.002   17 -0.016   12  0.050   15 0.4973   29  0.798   28 -0.256    4  0.356 P
DEVILS         4 4 25 27 -0.069  3.803   18 -0.013   18 -0.017   23 -0.067   16 0.4955    8  1.242   11  0.149   26 -0.284 P
CANADIENS      4 4 27 30 -0.087  3.727   19 -0.016   19 -0.020   21 -0.058   19 0.4895   10  1.219   12  0.129   24 -0.245 P
BLUE JACKETS   3 4 18 23  0.018  3.586   20 -0.028   20 -0.033   24 -0.080   21 0.4871   25  0.936   27 -0.237   13  0.076 P
TEAM           W L PF PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
SABRES         4 5 27 34 -0.039  4.401   21 -0.033   21 -0.034   25 -0.089   20 0.4888    7  1.243   13  0.128   27 -0.307 P
SHARKS         4 5 23 32  0.042  4.770   22 -0.038   22 -0.034   29 -0.166   24 0.4775   23  0.975   29 -0.279   17 -0.053 P
BLUES          3 5 27 28  0.032  4.085   23 -0.054   23 -0.056   17 -0.002   23 0.4780    2  1.393    4  0.420   30 -0.424 P
MAPLE LEAFS    4 6 32 33 -0.007  4.944   24 -0.055   24 -0.057   18 -0.008   22 0.4781   12  1.165   14  0.109   19 -0.125 P
PREDATORS      3 5 23 24  0.021  4.058   25 -0.065   25 -0.061   19 -0.017   25 0.4740   20  1.030   19 -0.065   16  0.031 P
BLACKHAWKS     3 6 21 36  0.048  4.827   26 -0.089   26 -0.086   32 -0.217   28 0.4634   16  1.106   23 -0.174   25 -0.261 P
RED WINGS      3 5 20 24 -0.204  3.377   27 -0.093   27 -0.096   27 -0.115   26 0.4648   27  0.907   30 -0.304   14  0.074 P
PENGUINS       3 7 33 38  0.042  5.187   28 -0.100   28 -0.100   20 -0.040   27 0.4647    5  1.344    5  0.314   28 -0.394 P
FLAMES         2 6 17 37  0.010  4.167   29 -0.110   29 -0.111   31 -0.212   30 0.4586   17  1.086   24 -0.192   23 -0.231 P
CANUCKS        2 8 30 45  0.152  5.756   30 -0.125   30 -0.133   28 -0.130   29 0.4590    3  1.392    6  0.291   32 -0.551 P
TEAM           W L PF PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
KINGS          0 6 12 25  0.161  3.461   31 -0.137   31 -0.149   26 -0.102   32 0.4359   24  0.956   26 -0.235   15  0.032 P
FLYERS         2 9 17 36  0.048  5.857   32 -0.160   32 -0.172   30 -0.183   31 0.4434   31  0.531   32 -0.748    3  0.382 P

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
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 8 2 42 24 -0.128  4.275    1  0.132    2  0.127    3  0.138    5 0.5430   14  1.109   10  0.186   12  0.090 P
OILERS         6 2 37 24 -0.054  3.686    6  0.098    6  0.094    2  0.141    4 0.5444    6  1.339    2  0.488   22 -0.205 P
KRAKEN         5 4 35 31  0.014  4.508   13  0.024   12  0.018   14  0.015   11 0.5141    4  1.390    3  0.433   29 -0.402 P
DUCKS          4 4 24 26  0.043  4.186   16  0.004   16 -0.008   22 -0.060   13 0.5036   13  1.158   17  0.048   21 -0.168 P
SHARKS         4 5 23 32  0.042  4.770   22 -0.038   22 -0.034   29 -0.166   24 0.4775   23  0.975   29 -0.279   17 -0.053 P
FLAMES         2 6 17 37  0.010  4.167   29 -0.110   29 -0.111   31 -0.212   30 0.4586   17  1.086   24 -0.192   23 -0.231 P
CANUCKS        2 8 30 45  0.152  5.756   30 -0.125   30 -0.133   28 -0.130   29 0.4590    3  1.392    6  0.291   32 -0.551 P
KINGS          0 6 12 25  0.161  3.461   31 -0.137   31 -0.149   26 -0.102   32 0.4359   24  0.956   26 -0.235   15  0.032 P

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
MAMMOTH        7 3 38 31  0.068  5.158    4  0.111    4  0.110   10  0.081    3 0.5450    9  1.237    7  0.291   20 -0.129 P
WILD           6 3 28 21  0.115  4.814    5  0.101    5  0.098    5  0.126    6 0.5421   28  0.905   20 -0.065    5  0.316 P
AVALANCHE      5 4 38 27 -0.062  4.120   11  0.032   11  0.020    4  0.127   17 0.4944    1  1.495    1  0.696   31 -0.441 P
STARS          4 4 20 13 -0.014  3.836   14  0.009   14 -0.000    7  0.103   18 0.4923   32  0.194   31 -0.734    1  0.941 P
JETS           4 4 23 24  0.012  4.012   15  0.007   15 -0.001   15  0.008   14 0.5007   22  0.978   21 -0.100    9  0.117 P
BLUES          3 5 27 28  0.032  4.085   23 -0.054   23 -0.056   17 -0.002   23 0.4780    2  1.393    4  0.420   30 -0.424 P
PREDATORS      3 5 23 24  0.021  4.058   25 -0.065   25 -0.061   19 -0.017   25 0.4740   20  1.030   19 -0.065   16  0.031 P
BLACKHAWKS     3 6 21 36  0.048  4.827   26 -0.089   26 -0.086   32 -0.217   28 0.4634   16  1.106   23 -0.174   25 -0.261 P

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
RANGERS        7 4 33 24  0.039  5.547    8  0.085    7  0.079    8  0.101    7 0.5383   30  0.787   25 -0.217    2  0.419 P
HURRICANES     7 3 36 24 -0.137  4.301    7  0.087    8  0.079    6  0.108    8 0.5335   18  1.061   15  0.098    8  0.119 P
CAPITALS       5 3 28 24  0.072  4.163    9  0.074    9  0.064   11  0.064    9 0.5328   11  1.182    9  0.203   18 -0.074 P
ISLANDERS      4 4 24 18 -0.044  3.780   17 -0.002   17 -0.016   12  0.050   15 0.4973   29  0.798   28 -0.256    4  0.356 P
DEVILS         4 4 25 27 -0.069  3.803   18 -0.013   18 -0.017   23 -0.067   16 0.4955    8  1.242   11  0.149   26 -0.284 P
BLUE JACKETS   3 4 18 23  0.018  3.586   20 -0.028   20 -0.033   24 -0.080   21 0.4871   25  0.936   27 -0.237   13  0.076 P
PENGUINS       3 7 33 38  0.042  5.187   28 -0.100   28 -0.100   20 -0.040   27 0.4647    5  1.344    5  0.314   28 -0.394 P
FLYERS         2 9 17 36  0.048  5.857   32 -0.160   32 -0.172   30 -0.183   31 0.4434   31  0.531   32 -0.748    3  0.382 P

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         7 2 34 19  0.010  4.364    2  0.131    1  0.129    1  0.161    1 0.5559   15  1.107    8  0.206   10  0.117 P
LIGHTNING      6 2 25 21  0.056  4.083    3  0.123    3  0.122    9  0.086    2 0.5538   19  1.053   16  0.065   11  0.107 P
SENATORS       6 3 24 23 -0.070  4.204   10  0.072   10  0.063   16  0.001   10 0.5187   26  0.921   22 -0.173    6  0.174 P
PANTHERS       5 4 30 25 -0.048  4.257   12  0.029   13  0.016   13  0.038   12 0.5112   21  0.984   18 -0.063    7  0.140 P
CANADIENS      4 4 27 30 -0.087  3.727   19 -0.016   19 -0.020   21 -0.058   19 0.4895   10  1.219   12  0.129   24 -0.245 P
SABRES         4 5 27 34 -0.039  4.401   21 -0.033   21 -0.034   25 -0.089   20 0.4888    7  1.243   13  0.128   27 -0.307 P
MAPLE LEAFS    4 6 32 33 -0.007  4.944   24 -0.055   24 -0.057   18 -0.008   22 0.4781   12  1.165   14  0.109   19 -0.125 P
RED WINGS      3 5 20 24 -0.204  3.377   27 -0.093   27 -0.096   27 -0.115   26 0.4648   27  0.907   30 -0.304   14  0.074 P

DIVISION               W  L   PCT  RNK RATING
CENTRAL DIVISION      35 34 0.507    1  0.085
ATLANTIC DIVISION     39 31 0.557    2  0.015
METROPOLITAN DIVISION 35 38 0.479    3 -0.003
PACIFIC DIVISION      31 37 0.456    4 -0.118

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

Predict score:








Team Strength vs. Time Plot:






posted: Tue Oct 20 05:30:18 2026
games through: Mon Oct 19 2026

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