The reason for that is simple, there wasn’t a lot of capable defense on hand last season. Florida finished the 2018-19 season allowing 3.33 goals per game, fourth-highest in the NHL. They also faced a hair under 31 shots per game.
This was a huge step down from the 2017-18 season when the team only gave up 2.96 goals per game. Even that wasn’t great, standing at 16th worst in the NHL; middle of the pack, but not where a playoff team should be.
If the Florida Panthers plan on making it back to the postseason for the first time in four years, giving up near three goals a game is purely unacceptable.