He's more risky than people think when it comes to throwing legit money and term at in an attempt to potentially save money in the future. He's not a PP1 guy on this team at this point in his career (and honestly, not top of the list for PP2 guys either) so counting stats aren't going to jump off the page.
When do we expect him to be better than what we saw out of someone like Bertuzzi last year? That's what 5 millie looks like in free agency. Until he shows us he's at least that with upside to be more, what's the rush in locking him up?