Matheson will be 32 at the start of the first year of his next contract in 4 years, and turning 33 in February that year.
That leaves him 2 and a half years to build on next year and produce his best seasons, much like Petry did with the Habs later on in his career.
By the trade deadline in the final year of his current contract, his value will be at its highest, all on a reasonable 4.875M Cap hit per season.
The danger, here, will be extending Matheson at his peak value for first season in a new contract where he will be 33 years of age.
Would we want to make the same kind frisky signature as we did with Petry, extending Matheson for four years at primo dinero, through ages 33, 34, 35 and36, all with a higher probability of getting finishing returns?
Likely not.
However, Matheson will be worth a pretty penny to a Cup aspiring team in three years, with Montreal abletohold back half the remaining Cap hit at the deadline, enabling just about any team to add Matheson to their lineup and creating a ripe environment for bidding war to ensue.
If Montreal does not have a #1, #2 and #3 D at that point, should we overpay Matheson fort long a term by default?
Personally, I'm not all that worried that, beyond matheson, we won't have at least a #2 and a #3 D in place by then, with more than one #4 also on deck.
We might end up with a #2 - #4, #3 - #4 and #5 - #6 as a D-Corps. At that point, we'd still have enough Cap space to somehow acquire at least another #2 for the first pair, enabling us to have a #2-#2, #3-#4, #4-#5 as a top-6 for the D-Corps, good enough to be one of the better, deeper Ds in the league, IMO.
With 3 years of experience, Guhle should at least be a #2D, IMO. Reinbacher should at least slot into a #3D role. Then, we'd still have Hutson, Mailloux, Engstrom, Xhekaj, Harris and Barron, plus Trudeau.
Compensation for Matheson from a Cup contender could be quite interesting, even, potentially, a younger Matheson (like getting Matheson for Petry) and a late first round pick.
