Quoting: Hockeyman_2627
That’s kind of dumb. Is there a particular reason, im curious?
Yes, because he's a 10.2c RFA (it's a clause in the CBA). https://www.capfriendly.com/faq#102c
Basically, based on the age he signed his ELC, he needed 3 professional seasons go gain normal RFA status. However, because of his injury that took him out for most of his 2nd season, he didn't play enough games for that season to count. He has 2 professional seasons accrued, not 3, and therefore, ineligible for offer sheet.
You can call it dumb or not. The idea here is that teams get more time to evaluate a prospect if they haven't played much (due to injury or other factor), before having to deal with outside.pressures (offer sheets, salary arb, etc), before handing out a huge pay day. This is a chance Pinto took. He wanted to sign his ELC right after his NCAA season to burn a year right away. He reached RFA more quickly, but he risked giving up negotiating leverage in case he missed all/most of a season, which ended up happening.