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  0.008  4.354    2  0.141    1  0.134    1  0.164    1 0.5552   15  1.114    7  0.219    9  0.110 P
LIGHTNING      6 2 25 21  0.035  4.022    3  0.132    3  0.124    8  0.084    2 0.5506   18  1.062   16  0.076   11  0.092 P
OILERS         6 2 37 24 -0.048  3.706    5  0.107    5  0.099    3  0.147    3 0.5447    5  1.350    2  0.510   21 -0.216 P
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 8 2 42 24 -0.123  4.301    1  0.145    2  0.133    4  0.144    4 0.5436   14  1.114   10  0.199   12  0.089 P
WILD           6 3 28 21  0.116  4.819    4  0.110    4  0.102    5  0.130    5 0.5422   27  0.904   19 -0.061    5  0.320 P
MAMMOTH        6 3 33 27  0.083  4.705    6  0.092    6  0.090   10  0.077    6 0.5396   12  1.182    8  0.218   17 -0.064 P
HURRICANES     7 3 36 24 -0.149  4.253    7  0.088    7  0.080    7  0.108    7 0.5314   20  1.054   15  0.090    8  0.126 P
CAPITALS       5 3 28 24  0.062  4.135    8  0.070    8  0.066   11  0.064    8 0.5314   11  1.191    9  0.217   19 -0.088 P
RANGERS        6 4 28 22  0.055  5.132   10  0.066   10  0.061    9  0.080    9 0.5298   30  0.744   29 -0.281    2  0.441 P
SENATORS       6 3 24 23 -0.089  4.140    9  0.067    9  0.062   17 -0.003   10 0.5153   26  0.914   25 -0.182    6  0.176 P
TEAM           W L PF PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
KRAKEN         5 4 35 31  0.004  4.472   13  0.019   13  0.018   14  0.014   11 0.5127    3  1.385    3  0.426   29 -0.398 P
PANTHERS       5 4 30 25 -0.042  4.281   12  0.028   12  0.019   13  0.042   12 0.5122   23  0.983   18 -0.060    7  0.143 P
DUCKS          4 3 22 21  0.013  3.558   14  0.016   14  0.014   21 -0.042   13 0.5112   16  1.100   17 -0.003   18 -0.080 P
AVALANCHE      5 3 36 24 -0.019  3.779   11  0.065   11  0.059    2  0.160   14 0.5109    1  1.502    1  0.740   31 -0.421 P
JETS           4 4 23 24  0.030  4.069   16  0.007   16  0.003   15  0.013   15 0.5030   22  0.988   21 -0.083   10  0.109 P
STARS          4 4 20 13  0.011  3.911   15  0.009   15  0.005    6  0.112   16 0.4966   32  0.193   31 -0.725    1  0.948 P
ISLANDERS      4 4 24 18 -0.062  3.727   18 -0.012   18 -0.018   12  0.048   17 0.4941   29  0.787   28 -0.268    3  0.365 P
DEVILS         4 4 25 27 -0.086  3.751   19 -0.023   19 -0.020   23 -0.072   18 0.4923    7  1.251   12  0.157   26 -0.302 P
CANADIENS      4 4 27 30 -0.089  3.721   20 -0.024   20 -0.020   22 -0.060   19 0.4888   10  1.221   13  0.131   24 -0.250 P
SHARKS         4 4 22 29  0.045  4.246   17 -0.007   17 -0.010   29 -0.151   20 0.4881   19  1.055   23 -0.168   20 -0.134 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   22 -0.041   22 -0.034   25 -0.091   21 0.4880    8  1.238   14  0.122   27 -0.304 P
BLUE JACKETS   3 4 18 23  0.015  3.578   21 -0.037   21 -0.034   24 -0.082   22 0.4866   24  0.956   26 -0.215   14  0.050 P
BLUES          3 5 27 28  0.042  4.119   23 -0.062   23 -0.054   16  0.002   23 0.4802    4  1.381    4  0.409   30 -0.406 P
PREDATORS      3 5 23 24  0.028  4.080   24 -0.064   24 -0.061   18 -0.015   24 0.4746   21  1.016   20 -0.077   16  0.048 P
MAPLE LEAFS    3 6 29 32  0.051  4.686   25 -0.071   25 -0.074   19 -0.018   25 0.4696    9  1.231   11  0.186   22 -0.221 P
PENGUINS       3 6 29 33  0.012  4.561   26 -0.078   26 -0.083   20 -0.040   26 0.4684    6  1.288    6  0.239   28 -0.318 P
RED WINGS      3 5 20 24 -0.207  3.367   28 -0.094   28 -0.099   27 -0.118   27 0.4636   28  0.901   30 -0.312   13  0.076 P
BLACKHAWKS     3 6 21 36  0.051  4.839   27 -0.088   27 -0.087   32 -0.221   28 0.4636   13  1.120   22 -0.159   25 -0.284 P
FLAMES         2 6 17 37  0.030  4.234   29 -0.107   29 -0.110   31 -0.212   29 0.4609   17  1.097   24 -0.177   23 -0.246 P
CANUCKS        2 8 30 45  0.143  5.719   30 -0.127   30 -0.138   28 -0.135   30 0.4575    2  1.394    5  0.289   32 -0.560 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  0.182  3.512   31 -0.135   31 -0.151   26 -0.100   31 0.4388   25  0.941   27 -0.249   15  0.050 P
FLYERS         1 9 14 34  0.023  5.246   32 -0.194   32 -0.214   30 -0.210   32 0.4302   31  0.544   32 -0.762    4  0.343 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
OILERS         6 2 37 24 -0.048  3.706    5  0.107    5  0.099    3  0.147    3 0.5447    5  1.350    2  0.510   21 -0.216 P
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 8 2 42 24 -0.123  4.301    1  0.145    2  0.133    4  0.144    4 0.5436   14  1.114   10  0.199   12  0.089 P
KRAKEN         5 4 35 31  0.004  4.472   13  0.019   13  0.018   14  0.014   11 0.5127    3  1.385    3  0.426   29 -0.398 P
DUCKS          4 3 22 21  0.013  3.558   14  0.016   14  0.014   21 -0.042   13 0.5112   16  1.100   17 -0.003   18 -0.080 P
SHARKS         4 4 22 29  0.045  4.246   17 -0.007   17 -0.010   29 -0.151   20 0.4881   19  1.055   23 -0.168   20 -0.134 P
FLAMES         2 6 17 37  0.030  4.234   29 -0.107   29 -0.110   31 -0.212   29 0.4609   17  1.097   24 -0.177   23 -0.246 P
CANUCKS        2 8 30 45  0.143  5.719   30 -0.127   30 -0.138   28 -0.135   30 0.4575    2  1.394    5  0.289   32 -0.560 P
KINGS          0 6 12 25  0.182  3.512   31 -0.135   31 -0.151   26 -0.100   31 0.4388   25  0.941   27 -0.249   15  0.050 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
WILD           6 3 28 21  0.116  4.819    4  0.110    4  0.102    5  0.130    5 0.5422   27  0.904   19 -0.061    5  0.320 P
MAMMOTH        6 3 33 27  0.083  4.705    6  0.092    6  0.090   10  0.077    6 0.5396   12  1.182    8  0.218   17 -0.064 P
AVALANCHE      5 3 36 24 -0.019  3.779   11  0.065   11  0.059    2  0.160   14 0.5109    1  1.502    1  0.740   31 -0.421 P
JETS           4 4 23 24  0.030  4.069   16  0.007   16  0.003   15  0.013   15 0.5030   22  0.988   21 -0.083   10  0.109 P
STARS          4 4 20 13  0.011  3.911   15  0.009   15  0.005    6  0.112   16 0.4966   32  0.193   31 -0.725    1  0.948 P
BLUES          3 5 27 28  0.042  4.119   23 -0.062   23 -0.054   16  0.002   23 0.4802    4  1.381    4  0.409   30 -0.406 P
PREDATORS      3 5 23 24  0.028  4.080   24 -0.064   24 -0.061   18 -0.015   24 0.4746   21  1.016   20 -0.077   16  0.048 P
BLACKHAWKS     3 6 21 36  0.051  4.839   27 -0.088   27 -0.087   32 -0.221   28 0.4636   13  1.120   22 -0.159   25 -0.284 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
HURRICANES     7 3 36 24 -0.149  4.253    7  0.088    7  0.080    7  0.108    7 0.5314   20  1.054   15  0.090    8  0.126 P
CAPITALS       5 3 28 24  0.062  4.135    8  0.070    8  0.066   11  0.064    8 0.5314   11  1.191    9  0.217   19 -0.088 P
RANGERS        6 4 28 22  0.055  5.132   10  0.066   10  0.061    9  0.080    9 0.5298   30  0.744   29 -0.281    2  0.441 P
ISLANDERS      4 4 24 18 -0.062  3.727   18 -0.012   18 -0.018   12  0.048   17 0.4941   29  0.787   28 -0.268    3  0.365 P
DEVILS         4 4 25 27 -0.086  3.751   19 -0.023   19 -0.020   23 -0.072   18 0.4923    7  1.251   12  0.157   26 -0.302 P
BLUE JACKETS   3 4 18 23  0.015  3.578   21 -0.037   21 -0.034   24 -0.082   22 0.4866   24  0.956   26 -0.215   14  0.050 P
PENGUINS       3 6 29 33  0.012  4.561   26 -0.078   26 -0.083   20 -0.040   26 0.4684    6  1.288    6  0.239   28 -0.318 P
FLYERS         1 9 14 34  0.023  5.246   32 -0.194   32 -0.214   30 -0.210   32 0.4302   31  0.544   32 -0.762    4  0.343 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  0.008  4.354    2  0.141    1  0.134    1  0.164    1 0.5552   15  1.114    7  0.219    9  0.110 P
LIGHTNING      6 2 25 21  0.035  4.022    3  0.132    3  0.124    8  0.084    2 0.5506   18  1.062   16  0.076   11  0.092 P
SENATORS       6 3 24 23 -0.089  4.140    9  0.067    9  0.062   17 -0.003   10 0.5153   26  0.914   25 -0.182    6  0.176 P
PANTHERS       5 4 30 25 -0.042  4.281   12  0.028   12  0.019   13  0.042   12 0.5122   23  0.983   18 -0.060    7  0.143 P
CANADIENS      4 4 27 30 -0.089  3.721   20 -0.024   20 -0.020   22 -0.060   19 0.4888   10  1.221   13  0.131   24 -0.250 P
SABRES         4 5 27 34 -0.039  4.401   22 -0.041   22 -0.034   25 -0.091   21 0.4880    8  1.238   14  0.122   27 -0.304 P
MAPLE LEAFS    3 6 29 32  0.051  4.686   25 -0.071   25 -0.074   19 -0.018   25 0.4696    9  1.231   11  0.186   22 -0.221 P
RED WINGS      3 5 20 24 -0.207  3.367   28 -0.094   28 -0.099   27 -0.118   27 0.4636   28  0.901   30 -0.312   13  0.076 P

DIVISION               W  L   PCT  RNK RATING
CENTRAL DIVISION      34 33 0.507    1  0.100
ATLANTIC DIVISION     38 31 0.551    2  0.009
METROPOLITAN DIVISION 33 37 0.471    3 -0.022
PACIFIC DIVISION      31 35 0.470    4 -0.103

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

Predict score:








Team Strength vs. Time Plot:






posted: Mon Oct 19 05:30:12 2026
games through: Sun Oct 18 2026

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