2025-26 PAL Rating and Value Rating: performance and contract value

Two scores from 0 to 100, where 50 is the average NHL player. PAL Rating measures performance: offense, creation, shooting, possession, defense, discipline, power play and penalty kill, compared with players at the same position and adjusted for ice time. A defensive player isn't punished for not scoring: the score starts from the player's strength, offensive or defensive, and every player gets a profile. Salary never enters it. Value Rating answers a different question: for what the player costs, does the return come in more or less than expected?

How it's calculated →WAR, in wins →

Top forward

100PAL87ValueConnor McDavid

EDM · Elite Top defenseman

100PAL89ValueEvan Bouchard

EDM · Elite Top goalie

99PAL95ValueLogan Thompson

WSH · Elite

Best contracts

Highest Value Rating among players rated 70 or more.

99Matthew SchaeferNYI · 0.98 M$ · PAL 98 (expected 38)
99Lane HutsonMTL · 0.95 M$ · PAL 97 (expected 38)
99Darren RaddyshTBL · 0.98 M$ · PAL 97 (expected 38)
99Jackson LaCombeANA · 0.93 M$ · PAL 96 (expected 37)
98Mark JankowskiCAR · 0.80 M$ · PAL 94 (expected 36)

Heaviest contracts

Lowest Value Rating among cap hits of $5M or more.

1Chandler StephensonSEA · 6.25 M$ · PAL 0 (expected 61)
2Neal PionkWPG · 7.00 M$ · PAL 8 (expected 62)
2Alexander RomanovNYI · 6.25 M$ · PAL 3 (expected 60)
2Josh AndersonMTL · 5.50 M$ · PAL 6 (expected 59)
2Andre BurakovskyCHI · 5.50 M$ · PAL 2 (expected 59)

The scale — PAL Rating

90–100 Elite
80–89 Excellent
70–79 Very good
60–69 Above average
40–59 Around average
20–39 Below average
0–19 Very poor

The scale — Value Rating

90–100 Exceptional value
75–89 Very good contract
55–74 Good value
45–54 Fair value
25–44 Poor return
0–24 Very poor return

#	Player			Profile
1	Connor McDavidEDM · F	100	87	Two-way	100	71	12.50 M$	6.1	82	99	90	94	98	25	100	100	94
2	Mark StoneVGK · F	100	90	Two-way	99	99	9.50 M$	3.5	61	98	96	97	99	99	97	96	84
3	Jason RobertsonDAL · F	99	91	Two-way	99	82	7.75 M$	5.6	82	95	95	99	94	76	69	100	38
4	Alex DeBrincatDET · F	99	91	Offensive	98	66	7.88 M$	3.5	82	95	98	97	94	53	60	97	42
5	Sam ReinhartFLA · F	99	90	Two-way	95	98	8.63 M$	1.8	64	84	97	94	69	98	45	94	96
6	Brady TkachukOTT · F	99	90	Two-way	99	77	8.21 M$	1.1	60	98	99	78	100	51	73	93	46
7	Nathan MacKinnonCOL · F	98	86	Offensive	100	17	12.60 M$	7.5	80	100	78	96	98	5	72	98	47
8	Nikita KucherovTBL · F	98	88	Offensive	99	20	9.50 M$	5.8	76	100	71	97	97	9	76	99	34
9	Matt BoldyMIN · F	98	91	Two-way	94	90	7.00 M$	4.2	76	94	83	93	80	68	83	91	96
10	Brandon HagelTBL · F	98	91	Two-way	96	91	6.50 M$	3.5	71	95	85	95	100	77	75	72	82
11	Seth JarvisCAR · F	98	90	Two-way	93	90	7.42 M$	1.6	71	89	92	85	92	82	90	88	86
12	Cole CaufieldMTL · F	97	89	Offensive	98	35	7.85 M$	4.8	81	98	98	100	89	23	80	64	39
13	Pavel DorofeyevVGK · F	97	97	Two-way	97	88	1.84 M$	3.3	83	86	94	99	83	91	19	94	31
14	Nick SuzukiMTL · F	97	89	Two-way	93	93	7.88 M$	2.8	82	97	67	67	93	86	38	93	91
15	Noah CatesPHI · F	97	94	Defensive	70	100	4.00 M$	1.2	82	64	80	78	66	99	33	48	98
16	Leon DraisaitlEDM · F	96	83	Offensive	98	33	14.00 M$	4.7	65	99	58	94	89	16	25	99	68
17	Jack HughesNJD · F	96	88	Offensive	96	65	8.00 M$	3.0	61	98	61	88	92	45	92	96	67
18	Matthew TkachukFLA · F	96	87	Offensive	97	32	9.50 M$	1.1	31	94	98	89	86	19	74	93	57
19	Roope HintzDAL · F	96	88	Two-way	95	77	8.45 M$	0.6	53	85	95	76	83	65	69	98	77
20	Kirill KaprizovMIN · F	95	87	Offensive	97	56	9.00 M$	4.6	78	93	90	92	85	44	53	97	31
21	Jake GuentzelTBL · F	95	87	Offensive	97	44	9.00 M$	2.7	81	93	94	96	69	23	70	95	90
22	Tom WilsonWSH · F	95	89	Two-way	90	94	6.50 M$	2.1	72	81	87	90	98	95	26	80	9
23	Rickard RakellPIT · F	95	91	Two-way	91	83	5.00 M$	1.7	60	79	96	90	58	88	80	94	66
24	Nico HischierNJD · F	94	88	Two-way	91	79	7.25 M$	2.8	82	75	92	86	90	62	68	96	78
25	Brock NelsonCOL · F	94	87	Two-way	88	92	7.50 M$	2.7	81	76	90	92	97	58	39	75	98
26	Zach HymanEDM · F	94	90	Offensive	98	33	5.50 M$	1.3	58	87	100	98	88	21	30	90	11
27	Mark JankowskiCAR · F	94	98	Defensive	69	100	0.80 M$	1.1	68	43	69	70	99	99	12	54	84
28	Tomas HertlVGK · F	94	87	Offensive	95	55	8.14 M$	-0.2	83	75	99	85	77	47	83	98	53
29	Nikolaj EhlersCAR · F	93	85	Two-way	90	74	8.50 M$	3.9	82	92	47	73	99	57	83	90	40
30	Drake BathersonOTT · F	93	90	Offensive	95	57	4.98 M$	3.6	79	90	82	94	76	52	64	98	28
31	Sebastian AhoCAR · F	93	84	Two-way	91	79	9.75 M$	2.5	79	91	81	77	96	21	44	90	99
32	Josh DoanBUF · F	93	98	Two-way	90	74	0.93 M$	1.9	82	80	97	89	87	71	91	77	26
33	Mitch MarnerVGK · F	92	81	Two-way	87	87	12.00 M$	4.0	81	90	15	57	93	78	64	98	86
34	Jack EichelVGK · F	92	83	Two-way	89	73	10.00 M$	3.6	75	91	55	66	94	54	88	94	76
35	Wyatt JohnstonDAL · F	92	85	Offensive	98	12	8.40 M$	3.2	82	94	97	100	38	9	32	99	59
36	Dylan LarkinDET · F	92	84	Offensive	94	49	8.70 M$	2.2	74	82	96	91	66	47	62	97	54
37	Kailer YamamotoUTA · F	91	98	Defensive	65	97	0.78 M$	2.1	59	61	38	87	92	98	75	7	51
38	Jordan KyrouSTL · F	91	84	Two-way	74	95	8.13 M$	1.5	72	71	60	65	98	95	60	44	35
39	Eetu LuostarinenFLA · F	91	93	Defensive	42	99	3.00 M$	1.4	73	36	38	29	85	97	90	6	98
40	Troy TerryANA · F	91	86	Offensive	90	67	7.00 M$	1.1	61	90	87	70	87	56	75	86	60
41	Nick SchmaltzUTA · F	90	87	Offensive	91	50	5.85 M$	2.6	82	88	84	95	84	57	70	83	3
42	Shane PintoOTT · F	90	91	Two-way	72	96	3.75 M$	1.2	72	68	79	61	90	90	26	46	95
43	Noel AcciariPIT · F	90	95	Defensive	49	99	2.00 M$	1.2	67	40	43	59	74	98	41	27	95
44	Connor DewarPIT · F	90	97	Defensive	34	99	1.10 M$	1.2	78	38	16	23	80	94	89	30	99
45	Luke EvangelistaNSH · F	90	92	Defensive	70	93	3.00 M$	1.2	81	73	71	12	96	94	92	69	28
46	Macklin CelebriniSJS · F	89	97	Offensive	93	24	0.98 M$	4.0	83	99	56	93	38	27	84	85	57
47	David PastrnakBOS · F	89	78	Offensive	96	15	11.25 M$	3.5	77	98	69	82	50	11	79	99	50
48	Leo CarlssonANA · F	89	97	Offensive	88	51	0.95 M$	2.4	70	90	83	91	75	35	97	73	77
49	John TavaresTOR · F	89	89	Offensive	92	44	4.38 M$	1.6	82	85	98	92	41	53	44	90	40
50	Anthony CirelliTBL · F	88	84	Two-way	82	89	6.25 M$	2.0	71	77	83	84	95	81	31	52	81

PickALeague calculation from the play-by-play and on-ice shifts of every game (NHL data) and the season's cap hits.