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
HURRICANES     61 29 320 250  0.010 45.488    1  0.296    1  0.304    2  0.234    1 0.5442   10  1.121    3  0.275    5  0.193
AVALANCHE      61 28 330 221 -0.015 43.865    2  0.295    2  0.299    1  0.390    2 0.5424   19  1.065    1  0.363    1  0.418
SABRES         55 36 315 266  0.018 46.357    3  0.210    3  0.185    4  0.184    3 0.5280    8  1.150    4  0.262    9  0.106
LIGHTNING      53 36 305 247  0.020 45.407    4  0.193    5  0.169    3  0.206    4 0.5265   18  1.082    7  0.199    3  0.213
CANADIENS      54 38 312 278  0.040 47.711    5  0.188    4  0.171    7  0.139    5 0.5254    9  1.137    6  0.200   10  0.079
STARS          52 36 294 249  0.003 44.289    6  0.161    6  0.150    6  0.152    6 0.5213   21  1.054   11  0.112    4  0.193
WILD           51 40 308 270  0.016 46.243    7  0.110    7  0.108    5  0.157    7 0.5155   12  1.120    8  0.198    8  0.117
BRUINS         47 41 284 270  0.030 45.369    8  0.066    8  0.073   11  0.074    8 0.5119   16  1.105   13  0.096   14  0.053
CAPITALS       43 39 263 244  0.001 41.317    9  0.034   10  0.036    9  0.087    9 0.5068   15  1.107   12  0.111   12  0.063
ISLANDERS      43 39 233 241  0.004 41.566   10  0.032    9  0.039   17 -0.030   10 0.5068   29  0.948   25 -0.194    7  0.135
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
FLYERS         47 45 271 267  0.028 47.475   11  0.029   11  0.035   14  0.025   12 0.5056   31  0.916   24 -0.175    2  0.224
SENATORS       44 42 283 257  0.017 43.853   12  0.028   13  0.029    8  0.115   11 0.5058   13  1.118   10  0.152   11  0.077
DUCKS          49 43 309 322 -0.025 45.650   13  0.027   12  0.033   23 -0.098   14 0.5041    1  1.286    9  0.156   31 -0.351
DEVILS         42 40 230 254  0.012 41.942   14  0.022   14  0.025   25 -0.117   13 0.5045   27  0.996   27 -0.226   20 -0.008
MAMMOTH        45 43 286 263 -0.010 43.996   15  0.013   15  0.010   13  0.041   16 0.5005   14  1.116   14  0.076   18  0.007
RED WINGS      41 41 241 258  0.008 41.732   16  0.008   16  0.004   18 -0.053   15 0.5011   22  1.037   21 -0.114   17  0.008
PENGUINS       43 45 304 284  0.008 44.581   17 -0.001   18 -0.015   10  0.077   17 0.4989    3  1.248    2  0.281   25 -0.127
BLUE JACKETS   40 42 253 253  0.009 41.715   18 -0.005   19 -0.016   16 -0.011   18 0.4987   20  1.060   19 -0.045   15  0.022
PANTHERS       40 42 251 276  0.011 41.859   19 -0.006   17 -0.015   21 -0.085   19 0.4984    6  1.193   17  0.047   28 -0.216
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 45 47 301 278 -0.026 45.407   20 -0.018   20 -0.036   12  0.050   20 0.4948   17  1.086   15  0.048   13  0.053
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
OILERS         43 45 303 295 -0.038 43.058   21 -0.026   21 -0.045   15  0.016   21 0.4944    2  1.261    5  0.236   27 -0.204
SHARKS         39 43 251 292 -0.027 40.762   22 -0.046   22 -0.059   29 -0.176   22 0.4911    5  1.214   18 -0.018   29 -0.335
PREDATORS      38 44 247 269 -0.013 41.116   23 -0.055   23 -0.070   24 -0.100   23 0.4892   11  1.121   20 -0.059   26 -0.141
BLUES          37 45 231 258 -0.022 40.772   24 -0.079   24 -0.093   19 -0.068   24 0.4856   23  1.027   22 -0.140   19  0.004
JETS           35 47 231 260 -0.011 41.204   25 -0.123   25 -0.127   26 -0.123   26 0.4806   24  1.022   26 -0.202   23 -0.044
RANGERS        34 48 238 250  0.012 41.885   26 -0.128   26 -0.131   20 -0.069   25 0.4811   25  1.016   23 -0.155   16  0.017
FLAMES         34 48 212 259 -0.021 40.956   27 -0.160   27 -0.155   30 -0.194   27 0.4769   30  0.930   32 -0.378   21 -0.010
KRAKEN         34 48 226 263 -0.025 40.775   28 -0.162   28 -0.158   27 -0.143   28 0.4764   26  0.996   28 -0.251   22 -0.035
KINGS          35 51 230 260 -0.006 43.349   29 -0.163   29 -0.160   22 -0.085   29 0.4763   32  0.847   31 -0.360    6  0.190
MAPLE LEAFS    32 50 253 299  0.012 41.961   30 -0.177   30 -0.172   28 -0.147   30 0.4751    4  1.241   16  0.048   30 -0.342
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
BLACKHAWKS     29 53 213 275 -0.017 41.123   31 -0.244   31 -0.251   31 -0.228   31 0.4623   28  0.985   30 -0.350   24 -0.106
CANUCKS        25 57 216 316 -0.023 41.156   32 -0.318   32 -0.334   32 -0.394   32 0.4502    7  1.160   29 -0.304   32 -0.484

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          49 43 309 322 -0.025 45.650   13  0.027   12  0.033   23 -0.098   14 0.5041    1  1.286    9  0.156   31 -0.351
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 45 47 301 278 -0.026 45.407   20 -0.018   20 -0.036   12  0.050   20 0.4948   17  1.086   15  0.048   13  0.053
OILERS         43 45 303 295 -0.038 43.058   21 -0.026   21 -0.045   15  0.016   21 0.4944    2  1.261    5  0.236   27 -0.204
SHARKS         39 43 251 292 -0.027 40.762   22 -0.046   22 -0.059   29 -0.176   22 0.4911    5  1.214   18 -0.018   29 -0.335
FLAMES         34 48 212 259 -0.021 40.956   27 -0.160   27 -0.155   30 -0.194   27 0.4769   30  0.930   32 -0.378   21 -0.010
KRAKEN         34 48 226 263 -0.025 40.775   28 -0.162   28 -0.158   27 -0.143   28 0.4764   26  0.996   28 -0.251   22 -0.035
KINGS          35 51 230 260 -0.006 43.349   29 -0.163   29 -0.160   22 -0.085   29 0.4763   32  0.847   31 -0.360    6  0.190
CANUCKS        25 57 216 316 -0.023 41.156   32 -0.318   32 -0.334   32 -0.394   32 0.4502    7  1.160   29 -0.304   32 -0.484

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      61 28 330 221 -0.015 43.865    2  0.295    2  0.299    1  0.390    2 0.5424   19  1.065    1  0.363    1  0.418
STARS          52 36 294 249  0.003 44.289    6  0.161    6  0.150    6  0.152    6 0.5213   21  1.054   11  0.112    4  0.193
WILD           51 40 308 270  0.016 46.243    7  0.110    7  0.108    5  0.157    7 0.5155   12  1.120    8  0.198    8  0.117
MAMMOTH        45 43 286 263 -0.010 43.996   15  0.013   15  0.010   13  0.041   16 0.5005   14  1.116   14  0.076   18  0.007
PREDATORS      38 44 247 269 -0.013 41.116   23 -0.055   23 -0.070   24 -0.100   23 0.4892   11  1.121   20 -0.059   26 -0.141
BLUES          37 45 231 258 -0.022 40.772   24 -0.079   24 -0.093   19 -0.068   24 0.4856   23  1.027   22 -0.140   19  0.004
JETS           35 47 231 260 -0.011 41.204   25 -0.123   25 -0.127   26 -0.123   26 0.4806   24  1.022   26 -0.202   23 -0.044
BLACKHAWKS     29 53 213 275 -0.017 41.123   31 -0.244   31 -0.251   31 -0.228   31 0.4623   28  0.985   30 -0.350   24 -0.106

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     61 29 320 250  0.010 45.488    1  0.296    1  0.304    2  0.234    1 0.5442   10  1.121    3  0.275    5  0.193
CAPITALS       43 39 263 244  0.001 41.317    9  0.034   10  0.036    9  0.087    9 0.5068   15  1.107   12  0.111   12  0.063
ISLANDERS      43 39 233 241  0.004 41.566   10  0.032    9  0.039   17 -0.030   10 0.5068   29  0.948   25 -0.194    7  0.135
FLYERS         47 45 271 267  0.028 47.475   11  0.029   11  0.035   14  0.025   12 0.5056   31  0.916   24 -0.175    2  0.224
DEVILS         42 40 230 254  0.012 41.942   14  0.022   14  0.025   25 -0.117   13 0.5045   27  0.996   27 -0.226   20 -0.008
PENGUINS       43 45 304 284  0.008 44.581   17 -0.001   18 -0.015   10  0.077   17 0.4989    3  1.248    2  0.281   25 -0.127
BLUE JACKETS   40 42 253 253  0.009 41.715   18 -0.005   19 -0.016   16 -0.011   18 0.4987   20  1.060   19 -0.045   15  0.022
RANGERS        34 48 238 250  0.012 41.885   26 -0.128   26 -0.131   20 -0.069   25 0.4811   25  1.016   23 -0.155   16  0.017

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
SABRES         55 36 315 266  0.018 46.357    3  0.210    3  0.185    4  0.184    3 0.5280    8  1.150    4  0.262    9  0.106
LIGHTNING      53 36 305 247  0.020 45.407    4  0.193    5  0.169    3  0.206    4 0.5265   18  1.082    7  0.199    3  0.213
CANADIENS      54 38 312 278  0.040 47.711    5  0.188    4  0.171    7  0.139    5 0.5254    9  1.137    6  0.200   10  0.079
BRUINS         47 41 284 270  0.030 45.369    8  0.066    8  0.073   11  0.074    8 0.5119   16  1.105   13  0.096   14  0.053
SENATORS       44 42 283 257  0.017 43.853   12  0.028   13  0.029    8  0.115   11 0.5058   13  1.118   10  0.152   11  0.077
RED WINGS      41 41 241 258  0.008 41.732   16  0.008   16  0.004   18 -0.053   15 0.5011   22  1.037   21 -0.114   17  0.008
PANTHERS       40 42 251 276  0.011 41.859   19 -0.006   17 -0.015   21 -0.085   19 0.4984    6  1.193   17  0.047   28 -0.216
MAPLE LEAFS    32 50 253 299  0.012 41.961   30 -0.177   30 -0.172   28 -0.147   30 0.4751    4  1.241   16  0.048   30 -0.342

DIVISION                W   L   PCT  RNK RATING
ATLANTIC DIVISION     366 326 0.529    1  0.073
CENTRAL DIVISION      348 336 0.509    2  0.036
METROPOLITAN DIVISION 353 327 0.519    3  0.034
PACIFIC DIVISION      304 382 0.443    4 -0.170

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: Mon May 11 05:30:10 2026
games through: Sun May 10 2026

Back to Dolphin rankings main page.