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      54 27 300 203 -0.009 39.840    1  0.258    1  0.260    1  0.376    1 0.5391   19  1.058    2  0.337    1  0.416
HURRICANES     53 29 296 240  0.008 41.165    2  0.242    2  0.239    3  0.191    2 0.5367    7  1.181    3  0.304   10  0.078
LIGHTNING      50 31 288 227  0.016 40.852    3  0.208    3  0.194    2  0.225    3 0.5309   12  1.136    4  0.280    4  0.170
SABRES         50 31 285 237  0.010 40.740    4  0.206    4  0.193    4  0.183    4 0.5301    9  1.163    5  0.272    8  0.094
STARS          49 32 275 223 -0.011 40.038    5  0.170    5  0.159    5  0.179    5 0.5236   21  1.050   10  0.130    2  0.228
CANADIENS      48 34 283 256  0.019 41.605    6  0.155    6  0.148    8  0.109    6 0.5228    6  1.185    6  0.227   22 -0.009
BRUINS         45 37 272 250  0.021 41.680    8  0.080    8  0.089   10  0.103    7 0.5144   13  1.122    9  0.141   13  0.065
WILD           46 36 272 240 -0.010 40.613    7  0.081    7  0.089    7  0.125    8 0.5131   18  1.077   12  0.107    7  0.142
SENATORS       43 38 275 245  0.012 40.859    9  0.050    9  0.057    6  0.133    9 0.5095   10  1.161    8  0.220   14  0.045
FLYERS         43 39 250 243  0.016 41.623   10  0.040   10  0.049   15  0.026   10 0.5077   29  0.978   21 -0.108    5  0.159
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
CAPITALS       43 39 263 244  0.007 41.257   12  0.035   13  0.041   11  0.092   11 0.5073   15  1.100   13  0.103    9  0.081
ISLANDERS      43 39 233 241  0.010 41.506   13  0.034   11  0.045   18 -0.024   12 0.5073   30  0.941   26 -0.200    6  0.153
MAMMOTH        43 38 265 235 -0.008 40.269   11  0.036   12  0.042   12  0.068   13 0.5061   16  1.092   14  0.070   11  0.066
DEVILS         42 40 230 254  0.018 41.881   14  0.019   14  0.030   26 -0.110   14 0.5050   27  0.988   28 -0.232   19  0.012
RED WINGS      41 40 240 250  0.016 41.197   15  0.014   15  0.020   17 -0.024   15 0.5033   23  1.016   22 -0.113   12  0.066
PENGUINS       41 41 293 268  0.010 41.348   17  0.007   17  0.007    9  0.105   16 0.5018    1  1.275    1  0.341   26 -0.130
DUCKS          42 39 268 284 -0.027 39.946   16  0.007   16  0.011   25 -0.107   17 0.5015    2  1.274   11  0.126   31 -0.341
BLUE JACKETS   40 42 253 253  0.015 41.655   18 -0.007   18 -0.010   16 -0.005   18 0.4992   20  1.053   19 -0.051   15  0.041
PANTHERS       39 42 243 275  0.019 41.409   19 -0.014   19 -0.017   24 -0.099   19 0.4977    8  1.173   17  0.003   28 -0.201
OILERS         40 41 276 268 -0.019 39.966   20 -0.015   20 -0.022   14  0.028   20 0.4962    3  1.247    7  0.226   27 -0.170
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
SHARKS         38 42 243 286 -0.018 39.830   23 -0.045   21 -0.050   29 -0.176   21 0.4919    5  1.203   18 -0.035   29 -0.317
PREDATORS      38 43 243 264 -0.005 40.614   21 -0.042   22 -0.053   22 -0.090   22 0.4911   14  1.110   20 -0.067   25 -0.113
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 38 43 261 249 -0.018 40.003   22 -0.045   23 -0.060   13  0.028   23 0.4904   17  1.088   16  0.025   16  0.031
BLUES          36 45 226 255 -0.017 40.199   24 -0.089   24 -0.098   20 -0.069   24 0.4844   25  1.015   23 -0.160   18  0.022
JETS           35 46 230 254 -0.002 40.715   25 -0.103   25 -0.109   23 -0.097   25 0.4825   22  1.016   25 -0.187   20 -0.008
KINGS          35 46 224 244 -0.022 40.017   26 -0.118   26 -0.122   19 -0.059   26 0.4810   32  0.870   30 -0.314    3  0.195
RANGERS        33 48 234 248  0.014 41.196   27 -0.139   28 -0.137   21 -0.074   27 0.4795   26  1.006   24 -0.175   17  0.028
KRAKEN         34 46 225 257 -0.027 39.431   28 -0.140   27 -0.137   27 -0.120   28 0.4788   24  1.015   27 -0.211   23 -0.029
MAPLE LEAFS    32 49 252 296  0.015 41.297   29 -0.165   30 -0.157   28 -0.134   29 0.4768    4  1.245   15  0.061   30 -0.329
FLAMES         33 48 209 258 -0.014 40.453   30 -0.167   29 -0.157   30 -0.196   30 0.4759   31  0.931   32 -0.383   21 -0.009
TEAM            W  L  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
BLACKHAWKS     28 53 208 273 -0.009 40.701   31 -0.249   31 -0.251   31 -0.230   31 0.4611   28  0.979   31 -0.363   24 -0.097
CANUCKS        25 56 215 310 -0.018 40.549   32 -0.302   32 -0.317   32 -0.371   32 0.4516   11  1.159   29 -0.286   32 -0.455

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          42 39 268 284 -0.027 39.946   16  0.007   16  0.011   25 -0.107   17 0.5015    2  1.274   11  0.126   31 -0.341
OILERS         40 41 276 268 -0.019 39.966   20 -0.015   20 -0.022   14  0.028   20 0.4962    3  1.247    7  0.226   27 -0.170
SHARKS         38 42 243 286 -0.018 39.830   23 -0.045   21 -0.050   29 -0.176   21 0.4919    5  1.203   18 -0.035   29 -0.317
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 38 43 261 249 -0.018 40.003   22 -0.045   23 -0.060   13  0.028   23 0.4904   17  1.088   16  0.025   16  0.031
KINGS          35 46 224 244 -0.022 40.017   26 -0.118   26 -0.122   19 -0.059   26 0.4810   32  0.870   30 -0.314    3  0.195
KRAKEN         34 46 225 257 -0.027 39.431   28 -0.140   27 -0.137   27 -0.120   28 0.4788   24  1.015   27 -0.211   23 -0.029
FLAMES         33 48 209 258 -0.014 40.453   30 -0.167   29 -0.157   30 -0.196   30 0.4759   31  0.931   32 -0.383   21 -0.009
CANUCKS        25 56 215 310 -0.018 40.549   32 -0.302   32 -0.317   32 -0.371   32 0.4516   11  1.159   29 -0.286   32 -0.455

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      54 27 300 203 -0.009 39.840    1  0.258    1  0.260    1  0.376    1 0.5391   19  1.058    2  0.337    1  0.416
STARS          49 32 275 223 -0.011 40.038    5  0.170    5  0.159    5  0.179    5 0.5236   21  1.050   10  0.130    2  0.228
WILD           46 36 272 240 -0.010 40.613    7  0.081    7  0.089    7  0.125    8 0.5131   18  1.077   12  0.107    7  0.142
MAMMOTH        43 38 265 235 -0.008 40.269   11  0.036   12  0.042   12  0.068   13 0.5061   16  1.092   14  0.070   11  0.066
PREDATORS      38 43 243 264 -0.005 40.614   21 -0.042   22 -0.053   22 -0.090   22 0.4911   14  1.110   20 -0.067   25 -0.113
BLUES          36 45 226 255 -0.017 40.199   24 -0.089   24 -0.098   20 -0.069   24 0.4844   25  1.015   23 -0.160   18  0.022
JETS           35 46 230 254 -0.002 40.715   25 -0.103   25 -0.109   23 -0.097   25 0.4825   22  1.016   25 -0.187   20 -0.008
BLACKHAWKS     28 53 208 273 -0.009 40.701   31 -0.249   31 -0.251   31 -0.230   31 0.4611   28  0.979   31 -0.363   24 -0.097

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     53 29 296 240  0.008 41.165    2  0.242    2  0.239    3  0.191    2 0.5367    7  1.181    3  0.304   10  0.078
FLYERS         43 39 250 243  0.016 41.623   10  0.040   10  0.049   15  0.026   10 0.5077   29  0.978   21 -0.108    5  0.159
CAPITALS       43 39 263 244  0.007 41.257   12  0.035   13  0.041   11  0.092   11 0.5073   15  1.100   13  0.103    9  0.081
ISLANDERS      43 39 233 241  0.010 41.506   13  0.034   11  0.045   18 -0.024   12 0.5073   30  0.941   26 -0.200    6  0.153
DEVILS         42 40 230 254  0.018 41.881   14  0.019   14  0.030   26 -0.110   14 0.5050   27  0.988   28 -0.232   19  0.012
PENGUINS       41 41 293 268  0.010 41.348   17  0.007   17  0.007    9  0.105   16 0.5018    1  1.275    1  0.341   26 -0.130
BLUE JACKETS   40 42 253 253  0.015 41.655   18 -0.007   18 -0.010   16 -0.005   18 0.4992   20  1.053   19 -0.051   15  0.041
RANGERS        33 48 234 248  0.014 41.196   27 -0.139   28 -0.137   21 -0.074   27 0.4795   26  1.006   24 -0.175   17  0.028

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 31 288 227  0.016 40.852    3  0.208    3  0.194    2  0.225    3 0.5309   12  1.136    4  0.280    4  0.170
SABRES         50 31 285 237  0.010 40.740    4  0.206    4  0.193    4  0.183    4 0.5301    9  1.163    5  0.272    8  0.094
CANADIENS      48 34 283 256  0.019 41.605    6  0.155    6  0.148    8  0.109    6 0.5228    6  1.185    6  0.227   22 -0.009
BRUINS         45 37 272 250  0.021 41.680    8  0.080    8  0.089   10  0.103    7 0.5144   13  1.122    9  0.141   13  0.065
SENATORS       43 38 275 245  0.012 40.859    9  0.050    9  0.057    6  0.133    9 0.5095   10  1.161    8  0.220   14  0.045
RED WINGS      41 40 240 250  0.016 41.197   15  0.014   15  0.020   17 -0.024   15 0.5033   23  1.016   22 -0.113   12  0.066
PANTHERS       39 42 243 275  0.019 41.409   19 -0.014   19 -0.017   24 -0.099   19 0.4977    8  1.173   17  0.003   28 -0.201
MAPLE LEAFS    32 49 252 296  0.015 41.297   29 -0.165   30 -0.157   28 -0.134   29 0.4768    4  1.245   15  0.061   30 -0.329

DIVISION                W   L   PCT  RNK RATING
ATLANTIC DIVISION     348 302 0.535    1  0.086
CENTRAL DIVISION      329 320 0.507    2  0.044
METROPOLITAN DIVISION 338 317 0.516    3  0.034
PACIFIC DIVISION      285 361 0.441    4 -0.167

Home field advantage amounts to:
     0.055 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: Wed Apr 15 05:30:08 2026
games through: Tue Apr 14 2026

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