In my experience if the system is important enough, once you ship a couple of features to production you can coast there until the system is replaced. If the features were core the better.
I don´t like it but after 2 decades of coding I have come to accept it as it is.
In 20 years of doing development I can count with one hand the cases where promotions and salary increases went to the best performers. In most cases they went for those that befriended management.
I worked my ass off for almost 20 years. But later than sooner I learnt. Now I coast.
Work hard if you want, slack if you want too. The defining factor for your success is who you are "friends" with.
I don´t like it but after 2 decades of coding I have come to accept it as it is.