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      34 13 190 112  0.002 23.309    1  0.253    1  0.244    1  0.386    1 0.5556   17  1.099    1  0.408    1  0.363
LIGHTNING      30 17 166 120  0.016 23.745    2  0.162    2  0.154    2  0.206    2 0.5366   20  1.065    7  0.187    4  0.224
HURRICANES     31 19 173 145 -0.001 25.071    3  0.138    3  0.135    4  0.111    3 0.5316   10  1.128    9  0.169   13  0.053
RED WINGS      30 20 157 153 -0.025 24.745    4  0.094    4  0.101   16 -0.006    4 0.5227   19  1.066   20 -0.022   15  0.011
BRUINS         28 21 164 150 -0.003 24.574    5  0.071    5  0.077    6  0.067    5 0.5175    8  1.169    8  0.176   19 -0.043
ISLANDERS      27 22 145 137  0.027 25.186    6  0.060    6  0.068   11  0.054    6 0.5156   29  0.931   24 -0.120    3  0.228
STARS          27 22 163 139 -0.010 24.397    8  0.046    9  0.052    3  0.113    7 0.5115   21  1.065   13  0.094    7  0.132
WILD           28 22 161 143 -0.010 24.907    7  0.055    7  0.062    5  0.101    8 0.5114   22  1.021   17  0.030    5  0.171
SABRES         26 22 158 150 -0.004 24.119   10  0.036   10  0.043   13  0.022    9 0.5107    9  1.161   11  0.122   21 -0.078
CANADIENS      27 22 168 164 -0.007 24.576    9  0.045    8  0.053   15  0.013   10 0.5101    4  1.242    4  0.217   28 -0.191
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
PANTHERS       25 23 146 160  0.022 24.741   12  0.028   12  0.033   21 -0.048   11 0.5087    7  1.178   14  0.074   26 -0.170
DEVILS         25 24 129 150  0.047 25.793   13  0.026   13  0.033   25 -0.081   12 0.5080   30  0.905   29 -0.284    8  0.123
SHARKS         25 23 152 169  0.026 24.856   11  0.030   11  0.036   26 -0.084   13 0.5063    3  1.248   10  0.128   31 -0.296
MAMMOTH        25 24 153 135 -0.001 24.626   14  0.012   15  0.011   10  0.057   14 0.5033   26  0.987   21 -0.053    6  0.167
DUCKS          25 24 163 175  0.006 24.955   15  0.010   14  0.014   24 -0.069   15 0.5027    1  1.330    2  0.253   32 -0.391
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 24 24 161 147 -0.021 23.737   16 -0.005   16 -0.010    8  0.060   16 0.5004   11  1.126   12  0.116   17  0.004
MAPLE LEAFS    24 25 165 164 -0.009 24.547   18 -0.008   18 -0.013   14  0.014   17 0.4977    5  1.234    5  0.208   27 -0.179
CAPITALS       24 26 159 148 -0.002 25.109   20 -0.018   20 -0.025    7  0.061   18 0.4967   18  1.086   15  0.068   12  0.054
OILERS         25 25 170 158 -0.025 24.653   17 -0.006   17 -0.012    9  0.057   19 0.4966    6  1.214    3  0.225   23 -0.110
FLYERS         23 25 143 150 -0.009 24.123   21 -0.020   21 -0.027   19 -0.038   20 0.4955   23  1.019   23 -0.111   14  0.036
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
PREDATORS      23 25 138 161  0.013 24.682   19 -0.012   19 -0.014   30 -0.107   21 0.4939   14  1.113   22 -0.068   25 -0.147
PENGUINS       23 25 156 147 -0.035 23.520   22 -0.025   22 -0.037   12  0.037   22 0.4936   16  1.105   16  0.067   16  0.008
BLUE JACKETS   22 26 148 160  0.016 24.644   23 -0.032   23 -0.038   23 -0.063   23 0.4912   12  1.123   19 -0.010   24 -0.115
SENATORS       22 26 159 163 -0.010 24.063   24 -0.041   24 -0.050   17 -0.022   24 0.4889    2  1.256    6  0.201   29 -0.245
RANGERS        21 29 135 155  0.029 25.972   25 -0.069   25 -0.076   29 -0.104   25 0.4843   28  0.933   28 -0.277   11  0.068
KRAKEN         21 27 133 147 -0.020 23.918   26 -0.069   26 -0.078   22 -0.055   26 0.4824   27  0.937   27 -0.223   10  0.113
FLAMES         21 28 127 145 -0.036 24.141   27 -0.089   27 -0.095   28 -0.104   27 0.4784   31  0.886   31 -0.328    9  0.120
KINGS          19 29 125 136  0.014 24.553   28 -0.102   28 -0.107   18 -0.028   28 0.4748   32  0.730   32 -0.417    2  0.361
JETS           19 29 144 150  0.007 24.420   29 -0.107   29 -0.111   20 -0.044   29 0.4727   15  1.111   18 -0.006   22 -0.081
BLACKHAWKS     20 29 135 154 -0.038 24.101   30 -0.117   30 -0.118   27 -0.095   30 0.4723   24  0.998   26 -0.192   18  0.002
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
BLUES          19 30 120 168 -0.019 24.609   31 -0.138   31 -0.132   31 -0.175   31 0.4708   25  0.989   30 -0.284   20 -0.066
CANUCKS        16 33 129 180 -0.002 25.025   32 -0.207   32 -0.192   32 -0.241   32 0.4589   13  1.120   25 -0.192   30 -0.289

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
SHARKS         25 23 152 169  0.026 24.856   11  0.030   11  0.036   26 -0.084   13 0.5063    3  1.248   10  0.128   31 -0.296
DUCKS          25 24 163 175  0.006 24.955   15  0.010   14  0.014   24 -0.069   15 0.5027    1  1.330    2  0.253   32 -0.391
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 24 24 161 147 -0.021 23.737   16 -0.005   16 -0.010    8  0.060   16 0.5004   11  1.126   12  0.116   17  0.004
OILERS         25 25 170 158 -0.025 24.653   17 -0.006   17 -0.012    9  0.057   19 0.4966    6  1.214    3  0.225   23 -0.110
KRAKEN         21 27 133 147 -0.020 23.918   26 -0.069   26 -0.078   22 -0.055   26 0.4824   27  0.937   27 -0.223   10  0.113
FLAMES         21 28 127 145 -0.036 24.141   27 -0.089   27 -0.095   28 -0.104   27 0.4784   31  0.886   31 -0.328    9  0.120
KINGS          19 29 125 136  0.014 24.553   28 -0.102   28 -0.107   18 -0.028   28 0.4748   32  0.730   32 -0.417    2  0.361
CANUCKS        16 33 129 180 -0.002 25.025   32 -0.207   32 -0.192   32 -0.241   32 0.4589   13  1.120   25 -0.192   30 -0.289

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      34 13 190 112  0.002 23.309    1  0.253    1  0.244    1  0.386    1 0.5556   17  1.099    1  0.408    1  0.363
STARS          27 22 163 139 -0.010 24.397    8  0.046    9  0.052    3  0.113    7 0.5115   21  1.065   13  0.094    7  0.132
WILD           28 22 161 143 -0.010 24.907    7  0.055    7  0.062    5  0.101    8 0.5114   22  1.021   17  0.030    5  0.171
MAMMOTH        25 24 153 135 -0.001 24.626   14  0.012   15  0.011   10  0.057   14 0.5033   26  0.987   21 -0.053    6  0.167
PREDATORS      23 25 138 161  0.013 24.682   19 -0.012   19 -0.014   30 -0.107   21 0.4939   14  1.113   22 -0.068   25 -0.147
JETS           19 29 144 150  0.007 24.420   29 -0.107   29 -0.111   20 -0.044   29 0.4727   15  1.111   18 -0.006   22 -0.081
BLACKHAWKS     20 29 135 154 -0.038 24.101   30 -0.117   30 -0.118   27 -0.095   30 0.4723   24  0.998   26 -0.192   18  0.002
BLUES          19 30 120 168 -0.019 24.609   31 -0.138   31 -0.132   31 -0.175   31 0.4708   25  0.989   30 -0.284   20 -0.066

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     31 19 173 145 -0.001 25.071    3  0.138    3  0.135    4  0.111    3 0.5316   10  1.128    9  0.169   13  0.053
ISLANDERS      27 22 145 137  0.027 25.186    6  0.060    6  0.068   11  0.054    6 0.5156   29  0.931   24 -0.120    3  0.228
DEVILS         25 24 129 150  0.047 25.793   13  0.026   13  0.033   25 -0.081   12 0.5080   30  0.905   29 -0.284    8  0.123
CAPITALS       24 26 159 148 -0.002 25.109   20 -0.018   20 -0.025    7  0.061   18 0.4967   18  1.086   15  0.068   12  0.054
FLYERS         23 25 143 150 -0.009 24.123   21 -0.020   21 -0.027   19 -0.038   20 0.4955   23  1.019   23 -0.111   14  0.036
PENGUINS       23 25 156 147 -0.035 23.520   22 -0.025   22 -0.037   12  0.037   22 0.4936   16  1.105   16  0.067   16  0.008
BLUE JACKETS   22 26 148 160  0.016 24.644   23 -0.032   23 -0.038   23 -0.063   23 0.4912   12  1.123   19 -0.010   24 -0.115
RANGERS        21 29 135 155  0.029 25.972   25 -0.069   25 -0.076   29 -0.104   25 0.4843   28  0.933   28 -0.277   11  0.068

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      30 17 166 120  0.016 23.745    2  0.162    2  0.154    2  0.206    2 0.5366   20  1.065    7  0.187    4  0.224
RED WINGS      30 20 157 153 -0.025 24.745    4  0.094    4  0.101   16 -0.006    4 0.5227   19  1.066   20 -0.022   15  0.011
BRUINS         28 21 164 150 -0.003 24.574    5  0.071    5  0.077    6  0.067    5 0.5175    8  1.169    8  0.176   19 -0.043
SABRES         26 22 158 150 -0.004 24.119   10  0.036   10  0.043   13  0.022    9 0.5107    9  1.161   11  0.122   21 -0.078
CANADIENS      27 22 168 164 -0.007 24.576    9  0.045    8  0.053   15  0.013   10 0.5101    4  1.242    4  0.217   28 -0.191
PANTHERS       25 23 146 160  0.022 24.741   12  0.028   12  0.033   21 -0.048   11 0.5087    7  1.178   14  0.074   26 -0.170
MAPLE LEAFS    24 25 165 164 -0.009 24.547   18 -0.008   18 -0.013   14  0.014   17 0.4977    5  1.234    5  0.208   27 -0.179
SENATORS       22 26 159 163 -0.010 24.063   24 -0.041   24 -0.050   17 -0.022   24 0.4889    2  1.256    6  0.201   29 -0.245

DIVISION                W   L   PCT  RNK RATING
ATLANTIC DIVISION     212 176 0.546    1  0.056
CENTRAL DIVISION      195 194 0.501    2  0.050
METROPOLITAN DIVISION 196 196 0.500    3 -0.005
PACIFIC DIVISION      176 213 0.452    4 -0.105

Home field advantage amounts to:
     0.061 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: Tue Jan 20 05:30:16 2026
games through: Mon Jan 19 2026

Back to Dolphin rankings main page.