NHL Player Ratings Tool – Simple, Video Game-Style Ratings Backed by Real Data

Looking for simple NHL player ratings? Our NHL Player Ratings Tool delivers exactly that — video game-style player ratings designed for real-world hockey fans, fantasy players, and analysts.

Inspired by the intuitive 55–100 rating system used in popular NHL video games, we wanted to bring the same easy-to-digest concept to real-world hockey. While many hockey rating systems online require users to interpret advanced metrics like Corsi, xGF%, or RAPM, we strip away the complexity and distill player performance into a simple, accessible score — all powered by advanced algorithms and statistical models.

Each player’s NHL Player Rating is based on their performance over the last two full seasons, capturing both consistency and recent form. These ratings update regularly and provide an overall view of how a player is performing across different game situations. You can view these ratings on our main 5v5 hockey and on individual player breakdowns via our detailed 5v5 hockey.

What’s Included in Our NHL Player Ratings?

We break each player down into five key components:

Overall Rating

The Overall Rating is a player’s all-around score. This single number is designed to summarize a player’s value in both offensive and defensive situations. Whether you're comparing superstars or looking for underrated talent, the Overall Rating offers a quick-glance view of a player’s impact on the ice. You’ll also find this rating visualized in the radar charts on the 5v5 hockey, helping to highlight strengths and weaknesses at a glance.

5v5 Rating

The 5v5 Rating reflects how effective a player is during even-strength play — the backbone of most NHL action. This score includes both offensive and defensive metrics and is especially valuable for evaluating a player’s performance when the game is at its most balanced. Use this to spot players who drive play and create value outside of power play boosts.

Power Play (PP) Rating

The PP Rating isolates a player’s impact on the man advantage. It focuses on shot generation, assists, goals, and puck movement during power plays. This is perfect for fantasy hockey players looking to identify power play specialists or for fans analyzing how teams produce on special teams.

Penalty Kill (PK) Rating

The PK Rating highlights defensive ability during penalty kill situations. Players who excel here are often underrated — but vital. The PK score measures defensive zone performance, blocked shots, takeaways, and effectiveness at suppressing scoring chances while down a man.

Opportunity Score

The Opportunity Score looks beyond performance to evaluate how much ice time and opportunity a player is getting. This includes metrics like average time on ice (TOI), power play and penalty kill usage, and offensive zone starts. It’s a useful way to understand if a player is in a position to succeed — or being buried in the lineup despite their skillset.

Why Create Simple NHL Player Ratings?

We saw a gap in the hockey world: complex analytics existed, but few tools made player ratings as simple and intuitive as video games did. With this tool, we bring the familiarity of video game player ratings to real NHL data.

Other player rating systems on the internet often use single-season data, subjective scouting reports, or advanced analytics that are hard to interpret. Our model blends the best of both worlds — objective, statistical analysis with easy-to-understand ratings that hockey fans at any level can grasp.

Who Uses NHL Player Ratings?

• Fantasy hockey players use these ratings to uncover value picks and identify potential breakouts or regression candidates.
• Casual fans use them to understand which players are truly excelling in each role.
• Sports bettors use them to evaluate player impact and matchups.
• Analysts and writers use our ratings as a jumping-off point for deeper breakdowns and comparisons.
• Gamers love the familiar look and feel — a reminder of NHL video games they grew up with, but powered by real-world stats.

Ready to Explore NHL Player Ratings?

Start browsing the 5v5 hockey, and don’t forget to check out the in-depth breakdowns available on our 5v5 hockey. Whether you're into daily fantasy, season-long leagues, betting, or just love the game, this tool is your go-to hub for evaluating player performance through a modern lens.