Edited Feb. 25, 2019 at 6:25 p.m.
Dubas played it smart this TDL, and unless he takes proactive steps he probably won't raise the stakes to make a playoff push until 2020-2021 (Marleau is gone, Andersen in final year, Matthews is 23. btw Crosby age 20: finals, 21: won the cup, 22: won olympic gold, took a break and only won 4 playoff rounds over 6 seasons, age 28+29: won cups both years) If he let it ride this year, he'll likely do even less next year.
You get maybe 2-3 years as a contender, and then twice as long recovering.
Matthews is UFA in 2024-2025 so we only get one real chance at a push with him under this contract.
I'd bet on a big 3 year push to start for 2021-2022, once Seattle is in the league. It adds up to a lot of wasted time, but we can't turn back the clock now
But maybe our competition will be weakened next season due to their own trades and contracts, and just maintaining is enough