With the NHL currently on stand-by due to their annual trade freeze surrounding Christmas (December 19-27 this year), let?s use that transaction-less time to take our first look toward next offseason. At first glance, the potential Unrestricted Free Agent pool is short on star power among goalies, but deep in talent on the blueline with good depth in the forward pool. This will be updated as time goes on, as some players may wind up signing extensions before reaching the open market. The Philadelphia Flyers ($1.8M in cap room) and Calgary Flames ($3.1M) aren?t expect to be involved with the upper-echelon players next offseason, but there is an astounding 20 teams projected to have more than $17M available next offseason (before any resignings); that list includes playoff contenders in Chicago, Montreal, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Washington. **Note that those figures are based on the current $59.4M salary cap. The cap is expected to increase approximately $3M next season thanks to new TV contracts. Figures courtesy of CapGeek.com Forwards Brad Richards ? Dallas The 2004 Conn Smythe winner is playing like an elite player over the past two seasons. Last season he had 91 points, his highest total since netting 91 in 2005-06. This season he has 38 points in 31 games. His current cap hit is $7.8M, but the 30-year-old center will be in line for a smaller cap hit. He could sign a similar deal as Joe Thornton (3-years/$21M), or opt to make this his last big contract and look for something around 6-years/$36-40M. The Stars and Richards won?t be able to work on an extension until they Dallas finds a new owner. Alexander Semin ? Washington It?s extremely difficult to predict how much Semin will sign for on the open market. He could seek an annual average around $8M if he and his agent market him as a young, elite player. The guy can certainly score goals ? he has scored 38, 26, 34, and 40 over the last four seasons ? and was on an early pace to exceed sniping his way to 50 this year. Like the rest of his team, he has slowed lately, but he still boasts 18 goals in 32 games. He will be 27-years-old in March, and there are serious questions about his defense, and tendency to not give 100% all of the time. Other forward options: Jason Arnott ? New Jersey ($4.5M) 36-years-old, 15 points in 32 games, scored 20+ goals 12 times. Tim Connolly ? Buffalo ($4.5M) 29-years-old, 14 points in 25 games, hasn?t played a full season since 2002-03. Tomas Fleischmann - Colorado ($2.6M) 26-years-old, 11 points in 9 games with Colorado, 23 goals in 69 games last year. Simon Gagne ? Tampa Bay ($5.25M) 30-years-old, 6 points in 14 games, four-time 30-goal scorer. Michal Handzus ? Los Angeles ($4M) 33-years-old, two-way center with three career 20 goal seasons. Milan Hejduk ? Colorado ($3M) 34-years-old, 31 points in 28 games, 10 consecutive seasons with 20+ goals. Brooks Laich ? Washington ($2.067M) 27-years-old, 21 points in 35 games, three straight 20+ goal seasons. Jamie Langenbrunner ? New Jersey ($2.8M) 35-years-old, 11 points in 24 games, 60 points in three of last four years. Ville Leino ? Philadelphia ($800k) 27-years-old, 24 points in 34 games, 23 points in 26 career playoff games. Matt Moulson ? NY Islanders ($2.45M) 27-years-old, 11 goals in 30 games, 30 goals last year. Steve Sullivan ? Nashville ($3.75M) 36-years old, 20 points in 32 games, scored 60 points 6 times. Maxime Talbot ? Pittsburgh ($1.05M) 26-years-old, excellent third-liner and penalty killer Justin Williams ? Los Angeles ($3.5M) 29-years-old, 28 points in 31 games, two-time 30-goal scorer. Defensemen Christian Ehrhoff ? Vancouver ($3.1M) After a successful offseason boosting their blueline last year, Ehrhoff needs to be priority number one for the Canucks this offseason. Without a doubt he is one of the top young defensemen in his age bracket (28-years-old). He is coming off of back-to-back 40+ point seasons, including an outstanding +36 rating last year. Ehrhoff looks poised for much of the same this season, with 15 points and a +6 rating in 27 games. Anything less than 5-years/$25M would surprise me. Tomas Kaberle ? Toronto ($4.25M) The longest serving Leaf and 4-time All-Star controls his own fate thanks to a No-Trade Clause, and all indications point to him finishing the season in Toronto and then testing the free agent market. At 32-years-old he is at the tail end of his peak years, but has been a durable and productive point man for many years (45+ points in 7 of the last 10 years). If a 36-year-old Sergei Gonchar can get $5M a season for three years, I don?t see why Kaberle would reel in anything short of 4-years/$20M or 5-years/$22.5M. He is having another fine season so far, with 17 points in 32 games and an even +/- rating. Andrei Markov ? Montreal ($5.75M) The 32-year-old Markov is a tough one to peg. For starters, Montreal seems to be very interested in keeping him and working out an extension. On the other hand, two major knee surgeries have significantly hurt his value, as he was once viewed as an elite offensive defenseman. After posting 58 and 64 respectively a couple of seasons ago, he was limited to 45 games last year and is possibly done after just 7 this season. So how much would Montreal be offering him to avoid free agency, and how much would he fetch on the open market? Hard to see teams going all-in for Markov?s services without seeing him perform after the latest surgery. Joni Pitkanen ? Carolina ($4M) Whether it is his quiet efficiency, or a product of playing in the small-market and unsuccessful Carolina team, Pitkanen may be the best defenseman in the league that no one talks about. He currently has 18 points in 28 games, and has reached the 40-point mark three times in his career. More impressive, perhaps, is his +8 rating for a Hurricanes team with a negative goal differential. Given his age, he could seek a Paul Martin-type contract of 5-years/$25M, or even go for up to 7-years in the same dollar range. Other defense options: Kevin Bieksa ? Vancouver ($3.75M) 29-years-old, physical defender, 513PIM in 310 career games. Eric Brewer ? St. Louis ($4.25M) 31-years-old, team captain, defensive defenseman, 2002 Gold Medalist. Trevor Daley ? Dallas ($2.3M) 27-years-old, 11 points and +8 in 33 games, two-way defenseman. Hal Gill ? Montreal ($2.25M) 35-years-old, one of the league?s top shot blockers and penalty killers. Scott Hannan ? Washington ($4.5M) 31-years-old, solid defensive zone player, +14 in 73 playoff games Ed Jovanovski ? Phoenix ($6.5M) 34-years-old, 11 points and +5 in 28 games, 7 seasons with 30+ points. Bryan McCabe ? Florida $5.75M) 35-years-old, team captain, 15 points and +7 in 30 games, 5 career 15+ goal seasons. Chris Phillips ? Ottawa ($3.5M) 32-years-old, leader, career +97 in 898 games. James Wisniewski ? NY Islanders ($3.25M) 26-years-old, 17 points and -21 in 28 games, career bests 69 games and 30 points last year. Goalies Craig Anderson ? Colorado ($1.8M) The 29-year-old Anderson will be in for a big raise next year, as the late-blooming journeyman rose to fame last season with a 38-25-7 record, 7 shutouts, 2.64 GAA and .917 SV%. This season he has battled some injuries, but is still above-average at 10-4-2, 2.99 GAA, .906 SV%. Ilya Bryzgalov ? Phoenix ($4.25M) Ever since joining the Coyotes off waivers, Bryzgalov has been one of the 5-10 best goalies in the league. At 30-years-old, he could be in line for a contract up to 4-years/$24M or 5-years/$27.5M. He was nominated for the Vezina trophy last year after posting a 42-20-6 record with 8 shutouts, a .920 save percentage and 2.29 goals against average. So far this season he is 12-6?6 with 2 shutouts, .921 SV% and 2.56 GAA. Jimmy Howard ? Detroit ($716k) The 26-year-old Howard is due for a gigantic raise next year, but it will be interesting to see if Detroit is the team who gives it to him. No word is out yet on extension talks, and Detroit has made a living in the cap-world by winning with low-salaried goaltending. Surely they can?t let last year?s Calder finalist go though, after his 37-15?10 season with 3 shutouts, 2.26 GAA and .924 SV%. He is keeping pace this year at 17-62, 2, 2.62 GAA, .911 SV%. Tomas Vokoun ? Florida ($5.7M) Vokoun may be the league?s most underrated goalie. The 34-year-old veteran has 22 shutouts in the last 4 seasons (plus 3 more this year), with a GAA no higher than 2.60 despite the poor teams he has played on. He has faced over 2,000 shots in two of the last three years, but is averaging better than a .920 SV% over that time. Other goalie options: Mathieu Garon ? Columbus ($1.2M) 32-years-old, 7-4-2 with 1.98 GAA and .924 SV%, 113-96-21 career record. Jean-Sebastien Giguere ? Toronto ($6M) 33-years-old, 8-7-2, 2.80 GAA, 2007 Stanley Cup, 2003 Conn Smythe winner, .913 SV% in 510 career games. Pascal Leclaire ? Ottawa ($3.8M) 28-years-old, 4-7-1, 2.83 GAA, .908 SV%, 9 shutouts for Columbus three years ago. Antti Niemi ? San Jose ($2M) 27-years-old, 6-8-2, 3.15 GAA, 26-7-4 with 7 shutouts last year and won the Cup with Chicago. Mike Smith ? Tampa Bay ($2.2M) 28-years-old, 10-5, 3.20 GAA, .883 SV%, career 2.74 GAA and .905 SV%. Nick is RealGM?s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email [email protected] or on twitter @NickObergan