Free agency is a complicated market to navigate, involving salary-cap restrictions, payroll limits, bonuses and teams' actual personnel needs. In the NHL's Northeast Division, expect all of these factors to come into play – in different ways for different teams.

Some of the division's GMs will be hamstrung by their free-spending past, while others will enjoy a glut of cash. That will dictate either an aggressive or passive approach to free agency come Thursday.

BOSTON

Even a quick glance at the Bruins' payroll makes it obvious that GM Peter Chiarelli will be a seller in this market. Chiarelli only has $5.5 million to play with, the second-smallest amount of cap space in the league, trailing only the Detroit Red Wings.

Even after the additions of Tyler Seguin and Nathan Horton, the Bruins could use some firepower up front. They will likely need to fill six roster spots to fill out the 23-man roster, however, and that's too many vacancies to afford any kind of veteran help.

There has been speculation that center Marc Savard would be traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for puck-moving defenseman Tomas Kaberle. While this would bring Boston some cap flexibility, not to mention some pop on the power play, the Bruins still wouldn't be in financial position to sign any big-name free agents.

Instead, Chiarelli would be well-advised to spend in-house on restricted free agents like Dan Paille, Mark Stuart and Blake Wheeler, and continue to develop his talented young team from within the organization.

BUFFALO

GM Darcy Regier has managed to squirrel away the most cash of any team in the Northeast, with nearly $14 million at his disposal.

Buffalo has a short list of 10 young players to re-sign as RFAs, and none are bank-breakers. Left wing Tim Kennedy’s 2009-10 salary was the biggest of the class at $635,000 so, as long as the payroll limit isn't kept too low in small-market Buffalo, the Sabres should be able to get all their RFAs on paper with little difficulty.

This means that the Sabres should be able to add some veteran talent for 2010-11. Regier will likely be looking to nab two or three of the younger UFA forwards, to diversify Buffalo’s offense and offer some guidance to the young forward corps. Matthew Lombardi, Chris Higgins, Jason Williams or even Kyle Wellwood could fit in and help jump-start the offense. Higgins in particular is an attractive option, since he’s coming off a down year and could be bought for slightly less.

Buffalo is in an enviable financial positions and could really make a splash. However, their conservative approach has worked for the Sabres so far, and Regier will likely stick to that plan, making small moves to save for a more advantageous market.

MONTREAL

The most storied franchise in the NHL has also become its most unpredictable. Trading goaltender Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues after he led the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference final was puzzling.

On top of that, the Habs spent most of their cap space on re-signing aging and undersized forwards like Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez and Mike Cammalieri.

GM Pierre Gauthier is now left with about $7.5 million to shore up his lineup, and has 13 RFAs to re-sign, including presumptive goalie of the future Carey Price, who will be expecting a raise from his 2009-10 salary of $850,000. Also on Gauthier’s to-do list are center Maxim Lapierre and defenseman Mathieu Carle.

Gauthier already made some noise this week by trading for the negotiating rights to veteran backup Dan Ellis, a solid No. 2 goalie. Although fans might want their GM to sign the UFA, Ellis' minimum price tag of $2 million is prohibitively expensive, particularly when the team just escaped a goalie controversy.

Instead, Gauthier might consider re-signing back-up goaltender Curtis Sanford, a serviceable option for Price’s off-nights who would cost less than $1 million. There are more expensive goaltending options out there, but Sanford is a viable and affordable option who's already in the Canadiens’ camp.

There is hope for a crucial piece of the puzzle, though. Left wing Alexei Ponikarovsky was long rumored to move to Montreal from Toronto and is now a UFA after an unsuccessful campaign with the Pittsburgh Penguins. His size, speed and hands would be a perfect fit for the small-but-quick Montreal lineup. It’s up to Gauthier to find a way to fit Ponikarovsky under the cap.

OTTAWA

Although GM Bryan Murray would be reluctant to admit it, the Senators know on some level that the Daniel Alfredsson era is drawing to an end. It's time for Ottawa to embrace rebuilding mode, its Stanley Cup window having closed. Overspending on UFAs just doesn’t make sense.

Yet two very familiar scenarios are also facing Murray and the Sens.

Another star winger is threatening to leave for the second straight off-season. This time it’s Jason Spezza – but Murray seems to have learned his lesson and is set on keeping the productive forward. As a result, a good chunk of the Senators’ $9.4 million in cap space is sitting in a jar labeled “SPEZZA.”

The other pressing concern has to be goaltending, the Senators’ traditional Achilles’ heel. Dan Ellis, currently on the Canadiens’ roster, would be an excellent pick-up and within Ottawa’s price range.

Having addressed these concerns, Murray can turn to nailing down young role-playing RFAs like Nick Foligno, Chris Campoli, Peter Regin and Jesse Winchester. Aside from that, expect Ottawa to play wait-and-see in 2010.

TORONTO

The Maple Leafs are guaranteed to make a splash Thursday, if not through savvy free-agent moves, then by GM Brian Burke’s bluster.

There had been a lot of talk of moving Kaberle to Boston for Savard, but the Leafs may have acquired the top-six forward they desired on Wednesday: Chicago Blackhawks forward Kris Versteeg, a Calder Trophy finalist in 2009 and a Stanley Cup champion this year. Toronto also received the rights to college prospect Bill Sweatt in exchange for Viktor Stalberg, Chris DiDomenico and Philippe Paradis.

Is this the only splash to expect from Burke? Ilya Kovalchuk is a logical fit for the blue and white, but his price tag will likely be too high.

Gritty scoring forward Colby Armstrong, a member of the Atlanta Thrashers since 2008, is the platonic ideal for Burke. He’s tough and bring sandpaper to the ice, while serving as a legitimate scoring threat. Although Armstrong would help the Leafs' anaemic offense a little, they need more than just his 20-plus goals per season.

As a result, Burke may turn to the poor man’s Kovalchuk, Alexander Frolov. Right wing Maxim Afinogenov is more of a gamble, but could add some spark. Neither veteran, however, presents a long-term solutions to Toronto’s woes.

Burke also has some RFAs he might like to sew up quickly, namely Christian Hanson and John Mitchell. Although the Leafs would like to hold on to Nikolai Kulemin, there’s also a very real possibility that his deal will have to go to arbitration; reports indicate the sides are far apart.

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