iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 16h

EvolvingWild album of the week #71 D'Angelo and the Vanguard - Black Messiah RIP D’Angelo. This is such an awesome record. It has everything you could ever really want. Voodoo is still my favorite record of his, but each album he put out is so good - it’s basically just what kind of mood I’m in.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 29/08/2026

We're on our 5th year of training fantasy hockey models, and every time I get to the +/- model, I still can't believe I do this. Just the worst stat and also the worst model. It's so bad and nothing makes it better lol

Screenshot of a correlation plot for hockey's +/- stat. Metrics shown are the given +/- season, the prior three individual seasons (denoted by "_n1"...), and the prior year of toi per GP. All correlations are below 0.3, and two are 0.14.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 27/08/2026

We’re watching Dash again! Everyone please say hi to Dash!

Photo of Dash - Jack Russel Terrier - all curled up on a couch

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 16/08/2026

EvolvingWild album of the week #70 Girls - Album (2009) There is a lot of nostalgia tied to this record (it came out in the fall of our Junior year in college)… Regardless, it’s just such an incredible album. They kind of wrote the same song 10 times, but I will listen that song over and over.

Picture of aforementioned album’s cover (physical 12” record)

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 13/08/2026

MN State Fair blue ribbon for lefse here we come!!

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 10/08/2026

It’s always a wonderful time when the Great Blue Lobelias (Lobelia siphilitica) are blooming 🙂

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 08/08/2026

I picked up this used copy of “The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor” a few weeks ago and have been thoroughly enjoying it. I’ve never really read a collection of short stories before, but there’s something quite fun and oddly heavy/deep in all of them. Also incredibly well written.

A picture of the cover of the book mentioned on a desk. Frotn cover shows an illustrated peacock surrounding the title.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 08/08/2026

Look, okay, I didn’t really realize this is USA branded… I just want to show up to a hockey game like this

Rob Lowe wearing an “NFL” hat at a football game

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 05/08/2026

EvolvingWild album of the week #69 Kraftwerk - Computer World (1981) Our uncle found this vinyl at an estate sale and gave it to us for our birthday. I had never heard it before, and now I listen to it regularly. It’s incredibly ahead of its time and my favorite Kraftwerk album.

Album cover of Kraftwerk Computer World - yellow background with an 80s computer in front showing a digital version of the band

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 03/08/2026

I finished Truman Capote's "Other Voices, Other Rooms" last night, and while the book was great, all I've been thinking about after I read more about its background is the photo of him that appeared on the back of the original dustjacket in 1948

Picture of a 23-year-old Truman Capote lying on a couch in a very relaxed position looking blankly into the camera.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 28/07/2026

Spent a bit of my afternoon watching the little critters visiting our Ironweeds (Vernonia - still can't figure out the exact species). We've even got some skippers showing up!

Photo of Peck's Skipper on deep purple flower

Photo of tan/orange/brownish colored longhorn bee on deep purple flower

Photo of black & white colored longhorn bee on deep purple flower

Photo of tan/brown colored longhorn bee on deep purple flower

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 26/07/2026

For our birthday, Luke and I finally finished this 1500 piece Ravensburger puzzle that we’ve been working on since last summer while spending time at our parent’s cabin. We’re, somehow, missing two pieces. 😢 😭 😔

Picture of a puzzle showing a European cliff shoreline and people mingling and eating ice cream

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 23/07/2026

EvolvingWild album of the week #68 Frank Sinatra - September of My Years It’s been a bit. My favorite Sinatra record. This $3 version version is played to shit, but I think it lends to the album. A pristine copy would also lend to it. 10/10.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 13/07/2026

I saw another cool wasp on this plant today! Some type of thread-waisted wasp. They’re very cool little creatures.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 12/07/2026

I’m not exactly sure what #WildflowerHour is or when it happens, but here’s some pictures of a Great Black Wasp visiting Spotted Horsemint (Monarda punctata) flowers.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 03/07/2026

Leo Carlsson is good (and still very young), but I can’t think of any contract that is even close to this. Our poor baby contract projection model. Look what they’re doing to it!

EH Player Card: Leo Carlsson 25-26: 80 Overall | 83 Offense | 14 Defense

Top line and unit TOI at EV and PP, low SH TOI

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 02/07/2026

Carlson was, by all accounts, the actual "best" UFA still available after day 1. Given that he's 36, that's an odd thing to type, but that really is the market. At 2 years, $8.5 is higher than we projected, but I suppose that's just the current going rate. He's still an offensive house, somehow.

Contract plot from Evolving Hockey for John Carlson, '26. 3yr x $9M most likely deal. 2 year at $7.8M. All metrics shown in chart below close to or at the top of the plot.

Player card from Evolving Hockey for John Carlson, '24-26. Overall: 86, Offense: 94, Defense: 11. Top pair EV minutes, top PP minutes, top SH minutes.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 01/07/2026

We had Ryan Shea as one of the better value adds among UFAs this free agency. We had him at $4.6M on a 5 year deal (signed with Edmonton for $4M x 5 years). This is one of the better UFA defensemen contracts we've seen so far this free agency imo.

EH Contract Card: Ryan Shea, 3yr x $3.9M (same for 4 years, $4.6M at 5 years). Decent box score stats chart below

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 01/07/2026

Anders Lee might be the best remaining UFA out there (keep in mind the FA class, though). He'll be 36 in a few days, so there's obviously the age caveat, but even into his mid-30s he's been quite serviceable for the Islanders. Somewhere in the 2-5 year range at $5-6M is what the model projects.

RAPM chart from Evolving Hockey for Anders Lee, '23-26. xGF/60 and CF/60 close to or above 3 SDs above positional mean. Defense about average, modest powerplay numbers as well.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 01/07/2026

I completely forgot that Boone Jenner (signed with Washington for 4 x $5.75M) was still in the league let alone a free agent. The model didn't though. We projected a shorter term, but at 4 years his new contract is was pretty much spot on. I don't have much to say about him though sorry.

Contract projection plot for Boone Jenner from Evolving Hockey. UFA, 33 years old, F, shoots L.

1yr x $2.9M most likely deal. As term increases, the projections increase. At 4 years the plot shows a $5.8M deal. Metrics shown in lower chart are all middle of the road to potentially on the low end.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 01/07/2026

Nick Paul is the epitome of a guy in the NHL. He's got two very common first names, he's been ~okay at hockey, and he makes $3.15M.

EH Player Card: Nick Paul, 24-26 - 46 Overall | 36 Offense | 76 Defense

2nd line EH TOI, 2nd unit PP TO, some SH TOI

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 01/07/2026

Now this is what I'm talking about. A player who's never been a positive offensive player in his career but absolutely made sure nothing was going on for the other team either all while somehow doing it with the '25-26 Sharks?

RAPM chart from Evolving Hockey for Vincent Desharnais, '25-26. All offensive metrics below average. xGA/60 approaching 3 SDs above positional mean, CA/60 around 1.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 01/07/2026

Oliver Bjorkstrand was one of our guys when he was with the Blue Jackets. His first year in Seattle wasn't exactly great, he rebounded the next two years, and then had a rough 25-26. We had Bjorkstrand at $3.5M on a 1-year deal (signed 1 x $4.5M), but this could be a solid add for the Rangers.

EH Player Card: Oliver Bjorkstrand, 24-26: 70 Overall | 50 Offense | 86 Defense

3rd line EV TOI, top unit PP TOI, no SH TOI

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 01/07/2026

On the flip side, Zuccarello signing for $1m x 1 year is a steal of a contract for LA. I mean, he's old, but he was one of the best value adds by our model. We projected a 1 year deal at $4.35M... No idea why other teams weren't interested (or the Wild didn't want Zuccarello on that contract)

EH Player Card: Zuccarello, 24-26: 80 Overall | 73 Offense | 48 Defense

Top line EV TOI, top unit PP TOI, no SH TOI

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 01/07/2026

$8.25M is a large overpay per our projections to begin with (we projected ~$6.7M for a 4 year deal). Over the last three seasons, Trouba's averaged -3.25 xGAR per our model. And he's been pretty consistent about it too. There's very little to like about this.

Player card from Evolving Hockey for Jacob Trouba, '24-26.
Overall: 3, Offense: 22, Defense: 2. Slightly above replacement for offense. All other metrics well below replacement level. Top pair minutes at EV.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 29/06/2026

Everyone, obviously, loves Chester, so here's a pic of him being awoken from a snooze. The owner and her mom don't really know, but he's probably at least 15 years old (potentially older) and in perfect health per his last vet checkup a week ago. He is going to live forever in my opinion.

Chester, all nice and curled up in his pet bed on a chair

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 29/06/2026

Oh, we forgot to share - we’re watching Chester! Say hi to Chester!

Chester - orange cat - lounging in his pet bed on a chair

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 28/06/2026

Sorry, should’ve just posted a pic to begin with. Here’s the beauty:

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 27/06/2026

EvolvingWild album of the week #67 Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam If I don’t think about it too hard, this might be my favorite album of the last 20 years. At the very least it’s an album that impacted me more than any record ever has. Perfection.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 27/06/2026

dril on letterboxd might be better than dril on twitter. Still thinking this over, but the reviews are insanely good lol

Screenshot of a user review section for Blade Runner. Movie is shown in the left. Dril's review on the right:

"Review by dril

the ye.ar is 2009 AD. world government has passed the G.R.E.E.D ACt, banning ownership of CD-ROM. hyperlinks have repleaced the dollar .

889 likes"

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 27/06/2026

Thinking about Adam Fox as one usually does at 4AM on a Saturday morning.

RAPM chart from Evolving Hockey for Adam Fox, '23-26. All metrics well above average. xGF/60, CF/60, and all three offensive PP metrics (GF, xGF, and CF) over 3 SDs above the positional average.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 27/06/2026

Here’s our day 1 haul from the Barnes & Noble Criterion sale. Given everything is 50% off I struggle to not buy way more lol. It’s dangerous.

Picture of five Criterion Blu Rays:

Pinocchio
Mishima
12 Angry Men
Seconds
Repo Man

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 25/06/2026

Nichushkin's had one of the more interesting modern careers in the NHL, which we briefly featured in among a small circle of online people (oh the good old days). Throughout his time in Colorado he averaged less than 60 GP a season. The rare player whose rates were higher than his raw production.

xGAR career chart for Valeri Nichushkin from Evolving Hockey: '13-26. Chart is a line graph plotting xSPAR (y axis) over 11 seasons (x axis). First four seasons with Dallas are close to replacement level. Next season ('18-19, a jump of three seasons) shows a large increase with Colorado. Every subsequent season jumps up and down, but is consistently high.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 25/06/2026

Tonight's work music. One of my favorite albums of all time. Yes, there's some nostalgia here because I listened to this endlessly when I was like 17. But still - this is an incredibly impressive record that still goes *extremely* hard.

Screenshot from Apple Music:

[Album covers shows a pole in the center, sidewalk behind it, with obscured by pole walking behind it, name of band and album appear on each side of the album art)

Pat Metheny Group - The Way Up
Jazz - 2005

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 24/06/2026

Also let's me break out this classic that I don't think anyone really liked in the first place

Screenshot from a 30 rock episode. Picture of Liz Lemon holding a VHS cassette case that says "THE RURAL DRURY" on it ("DRURY" has been photoshopped over the last word, which originally said "JUROR").

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 24/06/2026

My toxic trait is seeing a player like this and thinking they're probably the best player in the NHL

RAPM chart from Evolving Hockey for Jack Drury, 987.8 EV TOI, COL ('25-26). CF/60, xGA/60, CA/60 all well above average (xGA/60 almost 3 SDs above). All other metrics below average or average.

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EvolvingWild @evolvingwild.evolving-hockey.com · 24/06/2026

[Frank Sinatra singing] Chicaaahhhgggohhhhh

Player card from Evolving Hockey for Bowen Bryam, past three seasons.

Overall: 48
Offense: 75
Defense: 13

Only offensive GAR/xGAR above replacement, and xGAR is only slightly high.

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