Forgive the lack of details, but here’s an anecdote:

After a Bruins home game, Tyler Seguin was busting Shawn Thornton’s chops because he had set the enforcer up for a scoring opportunity but Thornton blew it.  

"You owe me dinner," Seguin said with a laugh.

Thornton, who is 35 now, made a face and sarcastically responded, "Don’t you make more than me?"

Half of the joke was that yes, Seguin, in his entry-level deal, obviously made more than Thornton. Pretty soon, Seguin will make more than all of his fellow Bruins forwards. 

With the pact that was made official on Tuesday -- a six-year, $34.5 million extension that will begin in the 2013-14 season -- the Bruins put their supremely talented scorer in line to become the highest-paid forward on the team. Technically, Seguin’s salary will rise throughout the course of the deal that starts at $4.5 million in the first year of the pact, but his $5.75 million salary cap hit will exceed that of Patrice Bergeron ($5 million) and David Krejci ($5.25 million). It will put Seguin, who led the B’s with 29 goals in his second NHL season, behind only captain Zdeno Chara on Boston’s payroll. 

That’s unlike anything the Bruins have had in the Peter Chiarelli regime. The former second overall pick is still just 20 years old and is the team’s youngest forward, but he will trump all of his fellow forwards when it comes to his paycheck. No matter how you slice it, that changes things. 

The time for being impressed with Seguin’s strides ended the second he put pen to paper on his mammoth extension. Expectations are raised, and even though he’s still a kid, $5.75 million a year should get a team more than just goals (and lots of them). That much money means a face of the franchise and a leader. 

That means no more alarm clock issues or any other growing pains that could be expected of a 20-year-old millionaire. Seguin is a bright kid who knows what’s ahead of him, and he seems eager to live up to his new contract. 

"I don’t look at my age as a factor," Seguin said Tuesday. "I want to be a leader, even at the age of 20. Getting situated with the boys and learning everybody and everyone in the organization, I feel like I can step into those leadership roles and step into those shoes. Whether it’s new guys or just setting a good example on the ice, that’s what I want to do."

Seguin already is a superstar. He has the Beatlemania-esque following in Boston. He’s every fan under 15’s favorite player (see: Seventh Player award voting), and he’s also got a Stanley Cup ring that he earned in his first year on the job. Now, he knows that he has boatloads of money on the way (he already makes $3.5 million a year in his entry-level deal, so it isn’t like he was a youngster aching for a decent payday). The biggest thing the Bruins could fear in this case is that Seguin would become satisfied, or, to use a much scarier word, complacent. 

That seems unlikely. Seguin and fellow linemate -- and youngster -- Brad Marchand seem to push each other well. The two had a pretty good scoring race that went down to the last game of the season, when both players entered the regular-season finale against Buffalo with 27 goals before Seguin’s two goals bested Marchand’s one to give him the team lead. 

Then there’s everything else that’s around Seguin. As long as he’s on a team and a line with Bergeron, he’ll know that he has a ways to go in becoming a complete player. Seguin admitted as much Tuesday.

"Obviously I know I'm not going to get to Bergy's stage,” Seguin said of the Selke winner, “but it's what I strive to be." 

Seguin is right when he says he’ll never be Patrice Bergeron, and that’s fine. While Bergeron ultimately brings more than Seguin to the ice, Seguin brings something that the Bruins don’t otherwise have. Yes, he needs to become a better two-way player and needs to be stronger in the corners (another thing he admitted to Tuesday), but it’s not like the Bruins got the guy for his physicality. His selection back in 2010 and even this contract was about goals, and not work in the corners. 

And that’s absolutely fine. It may be a bit of a departure from what you’d expect of the Bruins and it may be frustrating to watch at times, but it’s fine as long as the numbers are up there with the Taylor Halls and Jeff Skinners of the world. If he gets into the stratosphere of a guy like Steven Stamkos (45 or more goals in each of his last three years), that’s gravy.  

Remember, the Bruins didn’t think Phil Kessel was a $5 million a year player. They think that of Seguin, and Chiarelli wouldn’t have committed this much to a scorer unless he felt the Bruins had something special. Clearly, he thinks Seguin will be worth it. 

“He’s maturing before our eyes,” Chiarelli said. “I feel that with the hard work that he’s shown us and the willingness to put in that hard work and continue to improve, I think the sky is the limit for Tyler.”