The list of potential free agent defensemen is a little more intriguing that some of the forward positions.
As we saw last year with Matt Niskanen and Brooks Oprik, teams may step up and pay big money for the top UFA defensemen, and it’s likely happen again this year.
Pending UFAs – Centermen | Left Wingers | Right Wingers | Defensemen | Goaltenders
| Player | Team | 2014-15 Cap Hit | 2014-15 Salary |
| Mike Green | WAS | $6,083,000 | $6,250,000 |
| Sergei Gonchar | MON | $5,000,000 | $5,000,000 |
| Paul Martin | PIT | $5,000,000 | $5,000,000 |
| Lubomir Visnovsky | NYI | $4,750,000 | $6,000,000 |
| Andrej Meszaros | BUF | $4,125,000 | $4,125,000 |
| Zbynek Michalek | ARI | $4,000,000 | $4,000,000 |
| Christian Ehrhoff | PIT | $4,000,000 | $4,000,000 |
| Marek Zidlicky | NJD | $4,000,000 | $3,000,000 |
| Marc Staal | NYR | $3,975,000 | $5,450,000 |
| Eric Brewer | TBL | $3,875,000 | $3,750,000 |
| Sheldon Souray | ANA | $3,667,000 | $3,500,000 |
| Kimmo Timonen | PHI | $3,500,000 | $2,000,000 |
| Francois Beauchemin | ANA | $3,500,000 | $3,500,000 |
| Bryan Allen | ANA | $3,500,000 | $3,500,000 |
| Johnny Oduya | CHI | $3,383,000 | $2,850,000 |
| Johnny Boychuk | NYI | $3,367,000 | $3,600,000 |
| Cody Franson | TOR | $3,300,000 | $3,300,000 |
| Jan Hejda | COL | $3,250,000 | $3,250,000 |
| Barret Jackman | STL | $3,167,000 | $3,250,000 |
| Bryce Salvador | NJD | $3,167,000 | $3,250,000 |
| Jeff Petry | EDM | $3,075,000 | $3,075,000 |
| Robyn Regehr | LAK | $3,000,000 | $3,000,000 |
| Marc Methot | OTT | $3,000,000 | $3,750,000 |
| Andrej Sekera | CAR | $2,750,000 | $1,750,000 |
| Ryan Wilson | COL | $2,250,000 | $2,375,000 |
| Jordan Leopold | CLB | $2,250,000 | $2,250,000 |
| Michal Rozsival | CHI | $2,200,000 | $1,750,000 |
| John Erskine | WAS | $1,962,000 | $2,000,000 |
| Mike Weaver | MTL | $1,750,000 | $1,750,000 |
| Adam McQuaid | BOS | $1,567,000 | $1,800,000 |
| Keith Ballard | MIN | $1,500,000 | $2,000,000 |
| Matt Carkner | NYI | $1,500,000 | $1,500,000 |
| Nick Schultz | PHI | $1,250,000 | $1,250,000 |
| Matt Bartkowski | BOS | $1,250,000 | $1,250,000 |
| Tim Gleason | CAR | $1,200,000 | $1,200,000 |
| David Schlemko | ARI | $1,188,000 | $1,275,000 |
| Alec Martinez | LAK | $1,100,000 | $1,100,000 |
| Anton Volchenkov | NAS | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Matt Irwin | SJS | $1,000,000 | $1,100,000 |
| Scott Hannan | SJS | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Aaron Johnson | OTT | $800,000 | $800,000 |
| Peter Harrold | NJD | $800,000 | $800,000 |
| Andre Benoit | BUF | $800,000 | $800,000 |
| Korbinian Holzer | TOR | $787,000 | $850,000 |
| Adam Pardy | WPG | $700,000 | $700,000 |
| Patrick Mullen | OTT | $700,000 | $700,000 |
| Nate Prosser | MIN | $700,000 | $700,000 |
| Jack Hillen | WAS | $700,000 | $700,000 |
| Corey Potter | CGY | $700,000 | $700,000 |
| Raphael Diaz | CGY | $700,000 | $700,000 |
| Chris Butler | STL | $650,000 | $650,000 |
| Bruno Gervais | COL | $650,000 | $650,000 |
| Shane O’Brien | FLA | $650,000 | $650,000 |
| Michael Kostka | NYR | $650,000 | $650,000 |
| Tyson Strachan | BUF | $650,000 | $650,000 |
| Davis Drewiske | MTL | $637,000 | $650,000 |
| Carlo Colaiacovo | PHI | $625,000 | $625,000 |
| Karl Stollery | COL | $605,000 | $605,000 |
| Alex Biega | VAN | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Bobby Sanguinetti | VAN | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Julien Brouillette | WPG | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Kyle Cumiskey | CHI | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Greg Zanon | FLA | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Taylor Fedun | SJS | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Matt Hunwick | NYR | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Stu Bickel | MIN | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Brett Bellemore | CAR | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Will O’Neill | WPG | $575,000 | $575,000 |
| Andrew Campbell | ARI | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Dylan Reese | ARI | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Patrick McNeill | ARI | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Mark Louis | ARI | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Joe Piskula | NAS | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Jamie McBain | LAK | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Frederic St. Denis | CLB | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Taylor Chorney | PIT | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Matthew Corrente | TBL | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Jean-Philippe Cote | TBL | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Drew Bagnall | BUF | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Mike Moore | WAS | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Jon Landry | WAS | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Steve Oleksy | WAS | $542,000 | $550,000 |
Updated: Nov. 25th, 2014
Source: NHL Numbers