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
PENGUINS       41 41 293 268  0.011 41.348   16  0.008   17  0.008    9  0.106   16 0.5019    2  1.275    1  0.341   26 -0.129
AVALANCHE      55 27 302 203 -0.012 40.229    1  0.263    1  0.268    1  0.384    1 0.5398   21  1.041    2  0.323    1  0.444
HURRICANES     53 29 296 240  0.008 41.164    2  0.242    2  0.241    3  0.192    2 0.5367    8  1.181    3  0.304   10  0.080
LIGHTNING      50 32 290 231  0.013 41.301    4  0.197    4  0.183    2  0.216    3 0.5288   12  1.137    4  0.273    5  0.159
SABRES         50 32 288 241  0.013 41.317    3  0.198    3  0.185    5  0.182    4 0.5285    9  1.163    5  0.271    8  0.093
OILERS         41 41 282 269 -0.025 40.232   20 -0.009   20 -0.016   13  0.041   20 0.4972    3  1.246    6  0.237   27 -0.156
CANADIENS      48 34 283 256  0.019 41.591    6  0.156    6  0.149    8  0.109    6 0.5228    6  1.186    7  0.227   21 -0.009
SENATORS       44 38 278 246  0.009 41.248    9  0.057    9  0.065    6  0.139    9 0.5105   11  1.149    8  0.211   11  0.067
DUCKS          43 39 273 288 -0.027 40.402   15  0.014   15  0.020   24 -0.104   15 0.5029    1  1.283    9  0.142   31 -0.350
BRUINS         45 37 272 250  0.021 41.657    8  0.080    8  0.090   10  0.103    7 0.5144   13  1.121   10  0.141   12  0.066
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
STARS          50 32 279 226 -0.007 40.646    5  0.184    5  0.171    4  0.183    5 0.5253   20  1.049   11  0.132    2  0.233
WILD           46 36 272 240 -0.010 40.606    7  0.081    7  0.090    7  0.125    8 0.5132   18  1.077   12  0.108    7  0.143
CAPITALS       43 39 263 244  0.008 41.256   11  0.035   12  0.042   11  0.093   11 0.5074   16  1.100   13  0.103    9  0.082
MAMMOTH        43 39 268 240 -0.009 40.733   13  0.025   13  0.033   12  0.061   14 0.5044   15  1.101   14  0.073   13  0.048
PANTHERS       40 42 251 276  0.018 41.814   19 -0.006   18 -0.008   22 -0.077   19 0.4991    7  1.185   15  0.040   28 -0.195
MAPLE LEAFS    32 50 253 299  0.018 41.895   30 -0.174   30 -0.164   28 -0.140   30 0.4758    4  1.233   16  0.040   29 -0.320
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 39 43 265 250 -0.020 40.401   21 -0.036   21 -0.051   14  0.039   21 0.4917   17  1.085   17  0.031   14  0.047
SHARKS         39 43 251 292 -0.020 40.695   22 -0.045   22 -0.052   29 -0.169   22 0.4917    5  1.212   18 -0.017   30 -0.320
BLUE JACKETS   40 42 253 253  0.016 41.648   18 -0.005   19 -0.009   16 -0.005   18 0.4993   19  1.053   19 -0.051   15  0.042
PREDATORS      38 44 247 269 -0.007 41.045   23 -0.053   23 -0.063   23 -0.093   23 0.4897   14  1.120   20 -0.058   25 -0.128
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
FLYERS         43 39 250 243  0.016 41.622   10  0.039   10  0.049   15  0.026   10 0.5078   29  0.978   21 -0.107    4  0.160
RED WINGS      41 41 241 258  0.016 41.702   17  0.007   16  0.011   18 -0.045   17 0.5018   22  1.029   22 -0.120   17  0.030
BLUES          37 45 231 258 -0.015 40.732   24 -0.075   24 -0.086   19 -0.061   24 0.4863   23  1.025   23 -0.140   18  0.019
RANGERS        34 48 238 250  0.018 41.815   26 -0.122   26 -0.124   20 -0.062   25 0.4816   25  1.007   24 -0.162   16  0.038
ISLANDERS      43 39 233 241  0.011 41.506   12  0.033   11  0.045   17 -0.023   12 0.5074   30  0.941   25 -0.199    6  0.153
JETS           35 47 231 260 -0.005 41.139   25 -0.117   25 -0.119   26 -0.116   26 0.4812   24  1.020   26 -0.201   23 -0.031
DEVILS         42 40 230 254  0.018 41.874   14  0.021   14  0.031   25 -0.110   13 0.5051   27  0.988   27 -0.232   19  0.012
KRAKEN         34 48 226 263 -0.019 40.712   29 -0.157   29 -0.150   27 -0.135   29 0.4770   26  0.994   28 -0.252   22 -0.019
CANUCKS        25 57 216 316 -0.016 41.102   32 -0.310   32 -0.324   32 -0.385   32 0.4508   10  1.157   29 -0.302   32 -0.467
KINGS          35 47 225 247 -0.024 40.445   27 -0.132   27 -0.132   21 -0.069   27 0.4797   32  0.866   30 -0.328    3  0.190
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 -0.011 41.054   31 -0.243   31 -0.242   31 -0.220   31 0.4629   28  0.983   31 -0.348   24 -0.092
FLAMES         34 48 212 259 -0.015 40.893   28 -0.155   28 -0.146   30 -0.186   28 0.4775   31  0.928   32 -0.378   20  0.005

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
OILERS         41 41 282 269 -0.025 40.232   20 -0.009   20 -0.016   13  0.041   20 0.4972    3  1.246    6  0.237   27 -0.156
DUCKS          43 39 273 288 -0.027 40.402   15  0.014   15  0.020   24 -0.104   15 0.5029    1  1.283    9  0.142   31 -0.350
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 39 43 265 250 -0.020 40.401   21 -0.036   21 -0.051   14  0.039   21 0.4917   17  1.085   17  0.031   14  0.047
SHARKS         39 43 251 292 -0.020 40.695   22 -0.045   22 -0.052   29 -0.169   22 0.4917    5  1.212   18 -0.017   30 -0.320
KRAKEN         34 48 226 263 -0.019 40.712   29 -0.157   29 -0.150   27 -0.135   29 0.4770   26  0.994   28 -0.252   22 -0.019
CANUCKS        25 57 216 316 -0.016 41.102   32 -0.310   32 -0.324   32 -0.385   32 0.4508   10  1.157   29 -0.302   32 -0.467
KINGS          35 47 225 247 -0.024 40.445   27 -0.132   27 -0.132   21 -0.069   27 0.4797   32  0.866   30 -0.328    3  0.190
FLAMES         34 48 212 259 -0.015 40.893   28 -0.155   28 -0.146   30 -0.186   28 0.4775   31  0.928   32 -0.378   20  0.005

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      55 27 302 203 -0.012 40.229    1  0.263    1  0.268    1  0.384    1 0.5398   21  1.041    2  0.323    1  0.444
STARS          50 32 279 226 -0.007 40.646    5  0.184    5  0.171    4  0.183    5 0.5253   20  1.049   11  0.132    2  0.233
WILD           46 36 272 240 -0.010 40.606    7  0.081    7  0.090    7  0.125    8 0.5132   18  1.077   12  0.108    7  0.143
MAMMOTH        43 39 268 240 -0.009 40.733   13  0.025   13  0.033   12  0.061   14 0.5044   15  1.101   14  0.073   13  0.048
PREDATORS      38 44 247 269 -0.007 41.045   23 -0.053   23 -0.063   23 -0.093   23 0.4897   14  1.120   20 -0.058   25 -0.128
BLUES          37 45 231 258 -0.015 40.732   24 -0.075   24 -0.086   19 -0.061   24 0.4863   23  1.025   23 -0.140   18  0.019
JETS           35 47 231 260 -0.005 41.139   25 -0.117   25 -0.119   26 -0.116   26 0.4812   24  1.020   26 -0.201   23 -0.031
BLACKHAWKS     29 53 213 275 -0.011 41.054   31 -0.243   31 -0.242   31 -0.220   31 0.4629   28  0.983   31 -0.348   24 -0.092

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
PENGUINS       41 41 293 268  0.011 41.348   16  0.008   17  0.008    9  0.106   16 0.5019    2  1.275    1  0.341   26 -0.129
HURRICANES     53 29 296 240  0.008 41.164    2  0.242    2  0.241    3  0.192    2 0.5367    8  1.181    3  0.304   10  0.080
CAPITALS       43 39 263 244  0.008 41.256   11  0.035   12  0.042   11  0.093   11 0.5074   16  1.100   13  0.103    9  0.082
BLUE JACKETS   40 42 253 253  0.016 41.648   18 -0.005   19 -0.009   16 -0.005   18 0.4993   19  1.053   19 -0.051   15  0.042
FLYERS         43 39 250 243  0.016 41.622   10  0.039   10  0.049   15  0.026   10 0.5078   29  0.978   21 -0.107    4  0.160
RANGERS        34 48 238 250  0.018 41.815   26 -0.122   26 -0.124   20 -0.062   25 0.4816   25  1.007   24 -0.162   16  0.038
ISLANDERS      43 39 233 241  0.011 41.506   12  0.033   11  0.045   17 -0.023   12 0.5074   30  0.941   25 -0.199    6  0.153
DEVILS         42 40 230 254  0.018 41.874   14  0.021   14  0.031   25 -0.110   13 0.5051   27  0.988   27 -0.232   19  0.012

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      50 32 290 231  0.013 41.301    4  0.197    4  0.183    2  0.216    3 0.5288   12  1.137    4  0.273    5  0.159
SABRES         50 32 288 241  0.013 41.317    3  0.198    3  0.185    5  0.182    4 0.5285    9  1.163    5  0.271    8  0.093
CANADIENS      48 34 283 256  0.019 41.591    6  0.156    6  0.149    8  0.109    6 0.5228    6  1.186    7  0.227   21 -0.009
SENATORS       44 38 278 246  0.009 41.248    9  0.057    9  0.065    6  0.139    9 0.5105   11  1.149    8  0.211   11  0.067
BRUINS         45 37 272 250  0.021 41.657    8  0.080    8  0.090   10  0.103    7 0.5144   13  1.121   10  0.141   12  0.066
PANTHERS       40 42 251 276  0.018 41.814   19 -0.006   18 -0.008   22 -0.077   19 0.4991    7  1.185   15  0.040   28 -0.195
MAPLE LEAFS    32 50 253 299  0.018 41.895   30 -0.174   30 -0.164   28 -0.140   30 0.4758    4  1.233   16  0.040   29 -0.320
RED WINGS      41 41 241 258  0.016 41.702   17  0.007   16  0.011   18 -0.045   17 0.5018   22  1.029   22 -0.120   17  0.030

DIVISION                W   L   PCT  RNK RATING
ATLANTIC DIVISION     350 306 0.534    1  0.084
CENTRAL DIVISION      333 323 0.508    2  0.044
METROPOLITAN DIVISION 339 317 0.517    3  0.037
PACIFIC DIVISION      290 366 0.442    4 -0.165

Home field advantage amounts to:
     0.057 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: Fri Apr 17 05:30:08 2026
games through: Thu Apr 16 2026

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