Strength of schedule matters, to argue otherwise is silly. It, like all analytics, has flaws and ways to be interpreted.
It doesn't mean the team doesn't have flaws or should be any higher in the standings or anything like that.
It is an indicator though of what
should/is likely to occur moving forward.
The Sagarin ratings have been around for a long time and from what i understand are pretty steady in predicting what happens not just game to game but also as the season progresses.
Arizona has had the toughest schedule thus far, Flames 2nd and Oilers 5th.
Using his formula however, the Yotes rank 28th, the Flames 13th, the Oilers 12th.
https://sagarin.usatoday.com/2023-2/...-ratings-2023/