The new year traditionally opens up a window of renewed discussions between player agents and teams on high-profile pending unrestricted free agents.

Both sides tend to circle back to each other for various reasons, some to try to fortify talks on an extension, others to crystallize trade-deadline plans, and others still to agree that things should be put on hold until after the season.

Whatever the case is, January is a fertile month for talks.

So with that in mind, let’s take stock of some of the most notable pending UFAs. Here’s the latest:

David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins

This is such a fascinating one, for all kinds of reasons. There are a lot of people who figured David Pastrnak, the Bruins’ most prolific offensive superstar, would have been extended before the season began, let alone before Christmas.

There’s been ongoing dialogue, but my sense is the gap in positions is real.

On one side, you’ve general manager Don Sweeney trying to maintain a Bruins salary-cap culture that’s the envy of every front office of the league, which means trying to get Pastrnak to take less than market value to stay put. On the other, you’ve got veteran agent J.P. Barry, who is fresh off negotiating Matthew Barzal’s whopper of an extension with the Islanders in the fall. As long as Pastrnak doesn’t blink, he’s got an agent willing to stand his ground and wait for the kind of deal that a special player like this deserves. Which is to say, an average annual value in double digits on a long-term deal.

The good news is that talks haven’t broken off.

“I’ve been in regular discussions with Don about our respective positions for a few months,” Barry told The Athletic Wednesday. “We remain apart at this juncture. We will continue to negotiate.”

There’s no way the first-place Bruins could even contemplate moving Pastrnak at the March 3 trade deadline, given their chance to contend for a Stanley Cup. So the real deadline here is June 30 at midnight, before the player can hit the UFA market.