Being legit top 6 players does not translate to "star" status. You're nitpicking, threading the needle and trying to find the hole in what I am saying in traditional HF argumentative fashion.
To me, a 7 yr contract is reserved for hard to find players, players with a guaranteed skill set who bring it every game. JDB is not any of those things, his contributions can be easily replaced with another player which is what I mean by "run of the mill". Those players are all around the league. This does not diminish being a top 6 guy and please don't conflate those two different meanings.
Signing a player because he had a couple of series is not justification for a 7 yr deal, at least not for me. Honestly, you can throw out last year because just about every Bruin player had career years in terms of points. JDB is a 20 goal guy and 40 pt overall with potential to hit 25 and 50. I agree his money value is spot on, 5.5 million seems about right but at 7 yrs with a limited NTC.....no way Jose.