Tallon said he and coach Joel Quenneville met with Panarin and Bobrovsky at a hotel on Fort Lauderdale beach (Quenneville coached Panarin with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2015-17).
Florida has made the Stanley Cup Playoffs once in the past seven seasons (2015-16) and twice in the past 18 seasons (2011-12). The Panthers finished 12 points behind the Blue Jackets for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference.
"We are confident we're going to make our team better," Tallon said. "We're trying to hit some home runs here. But if we have to hit three singles to score a run, we will think about that as well. We're going to do everything we can to possibly get better and to get [Quenneville] the players we need to get us to the promised land."
Columbus forward Matt Duchene, another pending free agent, has met with the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators, TSN reported.
"We've said all along that we assumed the risk and if they're gone by July 1, we're going to have lots of [NHL salary cap] space and lots of different other opportunities to move forward, and life goes on," Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said Sunday. "That was part of the risk we were willing to take.
"We've thought this could happen, so if it happens, we're not going to be shocked. We thought at the [NHL Trade Deadline] that this could be the case, and if it is the case, we'll just move forward and start building other ways to fill those holes."
Panarin led the Blue Jackets with an NHL career-high 87 points (28 goals, 59 assists) in 79 regular-season games this season and had 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 10 playoff games. Columbus swept the Presidents' Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference First Round to win a playoff series for the first time before losing to the Boston Bruins in six games in the second round.
Panarin has been eligible to sign a contract with the Blue Jackets since July 1, 2018, but did not have discussions during the season after the sides failed to reach an agreement prior to training camp in September.
Undrafted, Panarin signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Blackhawks on April 29, 2015, and won the Calder Trophy, voted as NHL rookie of the year, that season after he had 77 points (30 goals, 47 assists) in 80 games. He has 320 points (116 goals, 204 assists) in 322 NHL games and 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 27 playoff games.
Bobrovsky was 37-24-1 with a 2.58 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and an NHL-leading nine shutouts in 62 games (61 starts) this season. He is the Blue Jackets leader in wins (213) and shutouts (33) and has won the Vezina Trophy, voted as the best goalie in the NHL, twice in his seven seasons with Columbus (2012-13, 2016-17).
Undrafted, Bobrovsky signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on May 6, 2010. He is 255-153-37 with a 2.46 GAA, .919 save percentage and 33 shutouts in 457 regular-season games (447 starts) with the Flyers and Blue Jackets and is 11-18 with a 3.14 GAA and .902 save percentage in 34 playoff games.
