We have 26 games left as of Feb 7. Or to put it another way 52 points. We have 59 points in the bank. I'm betting that 99 points gets you into the playoffs. That means we need to earn 40 of the last 52 points. An extremely difficult but not impossible task.
My gut tells me MB will wait till the week before TDL. That means the players have from tomorrow's game against the Leafs till the game against Dallas to impress MB. That's 5 games. If the Habs win them all or lose just one, he may roll the dice and let them go for it. I wouldn't wait past that Dallas game and I wouldn't be a buyer. If, on the other hand, they lose more than one game then MB should look at preparing this team for the future.