Interesting signing from the player's perspective; in that they didnt have to "burn a year" of the ELC in order to sign him. Seems to me, that as a coveted college FA; he would have been able to negotiate that as part of the deal.
I'd suspect he probably looks at joining Toronto in the same breath as Tyler Bozak, who probably made the best career jump of any college free agent in recent memory.
He'll be competing for a spot with Fraser Minten and Alex Steeves, on a team that will be woefully tight on cap space next year. If he cracks the lineup, there's a decent chance he's going to get to play with some pretty good wingers.
Do that in a big market, and cement yourself a long NHL career as Bozak did.