There haven't been many elite FA's to hit the market since the end of the 1st lockout.
I'd like to know exactly who we missed out on over that period of time.
Wish there was an "easy" way to check that
Just going from memory, I think Ilya Kovalchuk, Brad Richards, Ryan Suter and Zach Parise have been pretty much the cream of the UFA crop since the lockout in terms of "big names". But I don't think you'll find anyone that in retrospect thinks we missed the boat by not landing Kovy or Richards, and then Parise and Suter both signed with their hometown team.
Yep, that would be the complete list. Out of those guys, we never had a real shot at Hossa, Suter, Parise or Niedermayer. Considering Chara signed with the Bruins about 30 seconds after free agency officially started, we probably didn't have any realistic shot at him either. Then we dodged a bullet by not signing Kovy or Richards.Chara, Savard, Hossa (x2), Gaborik, Suter, Parise, Bouwmeester, Kovalchuck, Richards, Niedermayer.