Look I don't make the rules. An empty net goal counts just as much as a regular 5 on 5 goal. Not sure it's earth shattering to think that Lev struggles mightily defensively at this point of his career...I just don't see the ceiling other people do. I think Korchinski will be a better long term option.
My whole point about Keith VS Rundblad is to try to prove the point that plus/minus has plenty of flaws. Everyone who watched the team that season knew David Runblad was getting easy quality of competition, plenty of offensive zone starts, plenty of time out there with 88, and he had a knack for hoping off the ice at inopportune times leading to the team giving up goals because of him, but him not getting a minus from it.
Meanwhile Keith was getting some of the hardest minutes on the team that year, with him spending a lot of time with Hammer. He wasn't spoon fed easy minutes and, generally, that results in quite a few minuses at the end of the night.
Same situation between Seabrook and Rozsival. Seab's had a worse plus/minus that season, while being a hell of a lot better of a player.
I don't know how one doesn't see the potential for Levshunov. He's at a half a point per game pace after his first 8 games in his D+1 season. I made a list comparing Lev to other recent high draft D (and some young D with promise like Faber). Most of those guys don't get more than a game or two until their 2nd or 3d seasons after being drafted. And most of those aren't putting up a 0.5ppg pace.
Korchinski had only 15pts in 76 games in his first season here. He was in his D+2 season.
One could argue Korchinski has a late birthday and Lev an early one, so the difference in age at the time they started in the NHL is less significant. But you could also argue how much leeway Lev has to continue to develop considering he was playing in Belarus just 3 years ago. He's played in 5 different leagues in the last 4 seasons. He was the youngest defenseman in the AHL this season, second youngest overall player, and had the 3rd most shots on goal in that league at the time he got called up. And I said this in an earlier post to you today, but the only defenseman picked in either of the last two drafts who has played in the NHL already, besides Lev, is Cagnoni for the Sharks (2023 pick with 1pt in 2 games so far).
All you've got to criticize the kid and question if he'll be anything more than a bottom pairing D is his plus/minus (again, flawed stat) and the word of your buddy who was supposedly an NHL scout at one point in time. Do you see why you're being criticized here?