Today, the Toronto Maple Leafs have signed their top draft prospect from 2019 to a n ELC. Nick Robertson, who turned 18 on September 11, spent his summer making it impossible not to believe he might have been a bit of a steal at 53rd overall.

He began with a turn on Team USA at the World Junior Summer Showcase, and then a dominating performance as the Maple Leafs best prospect on the roster at Traverse City, followed up by a great showing in scrimmages at Maple Leafs training camp. He is clearly a young man who is going places.

Right now, that place is Peterborough, where he will play on the top line for the Petes for his third year in the OHL. We should expect to see him at the WJC on Team USA in December as well.

As much fun as Robertson is to watch now with all that skill sparkling so bright, you can ignore his rough edges; he’s got two more years (at least) of junior hockey to play before he’ll move up a level.

His ELC will slide for both of those years, so this three-year deal (ELC length is governed by the age of the player) will not end until 2024. It also will not count against the SPC limit of 50 for the next two years, since Robertson will be playing in junior hockey along with Der-Arguchintsev. CapFriendly currently lists the Leafs SPC count at 49, and it should stay that way.