Before Elliot Lennon steps onto the ice for a game, he first must listen to a movie soundtrack to clear his mind and focus on the task at hand. It might be from Gladiator, Interstellar, or even The Lion King.
Lennon has lots of movies he could find his next inspiration from. After a typical practice day with the USHL’s Madison Capitols, he’ll return home and watch a movie, which he’ll log in the Letterboxd app, a social platform where users can share their reviews with friends and the public.
Of course, Lennon leaves lots of time for schoolwork, as well. The 18-year-old — who was the first North American goaltender taken in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, nabbed at 110th overall by the Senators — isn’t enrolled in classes right now, but he is studying, nonetheless.
Lennon is committed to Brown University for the 2027–28 school year, an Ivy League school that has an acceptance rate which hovers around five per cent.
He’s studying to take the SATs, and working on the applications and essays required to get into a program which will allow him to attend a prestigious university while playing for the Bears, who boast 19 NHL alumni.
“I think it's obviously a renowned school, and that was a big part of the decision to go there and commit there. It’s been a long application process. It's a long application, and there's essays you have to do, and there's information you have to dig out from the bottom corner of your cupboard to find out what you need, and GPAs and all that stuff. So there's a lot of stuff to submit,” said Lennon.
“Especially now, I have to submit an SAT score. But you know, it’s worth it. [And] I have a lot of time on my hands here, I’m done every day at 1:30, so it’s a good way to keep me active, and just grind out about an hour a day of working on applications, or essays, or rough drafts, and I love it. I love school, guys here probably think I’m a little strange for it, but I like to keep the mind going, so I’ve enjoyed the process.”
Because NCAA eligibility requirements did not originally allow him to play major junior in Canada, he decided to take the USHL route, where he is both the only Canadian goalie to have appeared in a game this season, and the only Canadian on the Capitols.
It wasn’t an easy decision, though, to turn down the chance to play for the Quebec Remparts, who have missed the playoffs just once since the franchise was revived in 1997.
“I think it was hard. It's obviously such a historic franchise and such a well-respected franchise in the sport. And you know, they're great over there. They treated me unbelievably. They treat all their players really well, and so nothing but respect for them,” said Lennon, who was drafted in eighth round by the Remparts in the 2024 QMJHL Draft.
“It was just, you know, at the time, the [eligibility] rule change hadn't been made yet, and so I knew I wanted to get a degree from prep school and play NCAA. That was always the goal.”
Lennon and his family had been planning for years to give him the best chance to play in the NCAA. At the age of 15, he began attending Deerfield Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts. There, he improved his stats every season, finishing the 2025–26 season with a sparkling .936 save percentage and 1.84 goals-against average.
Moving to a different country at such a young age came with a variety of new challenges for Lennon, but he says he wouldn’t have traded the experience for anything.
“I think it's like a bit of a culture shock. You're down there and you live in the United States for nine months at a time,” said Lennon.
“So it was different, you know. I learned a lot of new slang, and started listening to some country music, and Noah Kahan. So that was a lot for me, but overall, it was great. You know, it was just a really unique experience.”
