Yes, Hanger/Squad power does matter more, but inventory power does play a big part as well. I have been in over 12,000 battles, so I am experienced in the game as well. The numbers are really off in this game as power in concered. So someone that has 35K inventory power can put together a much better hanger at 5K then a 10K inventory power player can. That is my whole point. Now if all the power numbers were as they should be, then yes, you can say that. No matter if I talk about it on here or the discord forums, the only players that say inventory power doesn't mean anything is the ones that are using it to their advantage. And someone with a 35K inventory power can have a hanger of over 5K easily, but they keep it low because they find it so easy to win at the lower level.
I am a free player. The ones that buy mechs can have an equal inventory and hanger power to me, but in reality, they are more powerful.
My inventory power is at 10.59K right now. My current hanger is at 5327, which is a good hanger for my inventory level. Now I can get a higher hanger level, but when I go higher, I go against higher players and stand no chance. I'm not saying that I know how to factor in inventory power. At my level, 50% of my inventory power is a good point, but maybe 50% of 35k (17,500) is a stretch. Even if they added like 10% ov your inventory power to your hanger power, it would help in matchmaking quite a bit. But numbers need to be figured out for all this.
Now there are always exceptions. I have ran across players with all legendary mechs that have no idea how to play them. I do not have any legendary mechs, but I am close. I need 1 star to get to tier VII. I can get this star at any time, but I am saving up a-coins to get my first legendary mech before I open the next tier. Then I need to learn how to play the mech properly. I know that once I open the next tier, they will pit me against tougher players, so trying to get my stuff up so I can remain competitive.