RENWICK RECOVERED, READY TO ROLL FOR FIRST YEAR

CRANBERRY, Pa. – For many players, the offseason provides an opportunity to get away from the grind of the regular season and playoffs. Sure, there’s plenty of training, but there’s time for weddings, tropical vacations, quiet time on a lake, and other activities of that nature.

Nolan Renwick has been working on the farm.

Renwick’s family owns farmland in their hometown of Milestone, Saskatchewan, roughly 34 miles south of Regina. Different seasons require different responsibilities. For example, in May, Renwick was navigating an air seeder across 12,000 acres of land. This is full-time work for Renwick’s family and friends, but he’s happy to chip in when he’s back home during the offseason.

The 24-year-old is a veteran of these summers now, but he remembers the first time he was old enough to start lending a helping hand.

“You could say it’s like, playing your first game professional hockey,” he mused. “There’s aspects where you’re excited, but there’s also aspects where you’re nervous. You’re you’re handling expensive, dangerous equipment, so you don’t want to mess up, right? And sometimes you’re a little bit cautious, but you’re always just going to be confident with it and have fun doing it.”

That reflection provided some insight into the blue-collar man’s mindset when he made his pro debut with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in April after wrapping up a successful collegiate career at the University of Maine. He made that debut on Apr. 4, 2025 against the Cleveland Monsters. He ultimately played in four games in four games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and he scored twice.

During this time, he demonstrated a sturdy, hard-hitting game, apropos given his farmhand lifestyle.

The former Black Bear was satisfied with the way he handled himself and showcased what kind of a role he can play. But unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to showcase more thanks to an upper-body injury suffered duing his fourth game.

Renwick was one of 10 injured scratches on the Penguins’ roster by Game 1 of the Calder Cup Playoffs, but if his hard work on the farm wasn’t enough of a tell, he’s fully recovered and healthy now.

“The body’s feeling good, and it’s time to put the hammer down on off-season training,” Renwick said.

And this week’s Development Camp is a first step in gearing up for the upcoming year. Renwick admits that his recovery has prevented him from getting on the ice as much as he’d like so far this offseason, but the farmwork has kept him active, and now Dev Camp presents an opportunity to freshen up his on-ice conditioning. Frankly, many of the small-area drills and the internal competition those exercises create lend nicely to Renwick’s abilities as a thick-bodied power forward.

“[Development Camp] is like a break right in the middle of the summer, because sometimes when you’re really pushing in the offseason, it can start to drag on,” Renwick said. “So this is kind of like a work vacation, where you get away from your normal routine and get to learn some new things, meet some new people, and still compete on the ice. So it’s been awesome.”

By all accounts, the Penguins are happy with the way Renwick has looked during his Dev Camp “work vacation”. His injury recovery has gone smoothy, and his physical conditioning hasn’t suffered.

With slightly more than two months to go before the start of training camp, Renwick can continue to seed his future in the gym, and hopefully have a bountiful harvest in October.

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