An ELC is 3 years. Standard 1st contract. If a player plays just 1 pro game in a season, that burns an entire year off the contract, so he is left with just 2 years before he can sign another contract. Obviously this is favourable to a player.
After tonights game, Evans is finished playing NCAA hockey. He can sign an ELC. So he signs it and as part if the deal he is assigned to Laval where he plays 1 game for them next week, thus burning an entire year of his contract. Its a great incentive to get a player to sign since no other team can do that since we own his rights.