from Nicholas J. Cotsonika of NHL.com,
Sergei Bobrovsky met with the Florida Panthers in a private room at a hotel by the beach during the NHL free agent interview period last week.
The sales pitch boiled down to this: Owner Vinnie Viola would spend to the NHL salary cap. The Panthers had a lot of good pieces. Hiring coach Joel Quenneville on April 8 was the first step toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and signing Bobrovsky, a two-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goalie, would be the next.
"He's a very, very serious guy and has a plan in place," general manager Dale Tallon said. "He liked what we told him.
"I think Coach Q was probably the clincher."...
The Panthers did not land forward Artemi Panarin, Bobrovsky's former Columbus Blue Jackets teammate, who agreed to a seven-year, $81.5 million contract with the New York Rangers even though he once played for Quenneville with the Chicago Blackhawks.
"That was very close," Tallon said. "It was very realistic. We interviewed him as well and had great talks. He had experience with Coach Q. I just think his heart was set on New York and a big market, and that was fine. We pursued it. We went hard after it."
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