4x a small number is irrelevant if the majority are neutral starts. Zone starts aren’t that useful unless you cancel out sequential starts. If you take a D zone start and ice the puck 3 times, you get 4 D zone starts but it’s not because the coach trusts you for being elite defensively, it’s because you suck at clearing the zone and aren’t allowed changing until you do. Likewise if you take an O zone start, support the cycle and get a frozen shot on net, and stay on for another offensive zone start - you’re not getting sheltered you’re just doing your job in the o zone correctly.
The perfect defensive player would get 1 defensive zone faceoff and follow it up with 3 offensive zone faceoffs and one at center ice.
1-not the perfect defensive player... most of 2 way D would be close of 50/50... an unidimentionnal offensive dman will get more offensive start and shutdown D will start much more in defensive end (exemple it wqs the same story with Tanev last year in Dallas)
2- you're entierly missed the point... The fact they are starting more in defensive side or offensive side will affect stats of every D.
If you've got more start andplaying more in offensive , sure that will help to raise your offensive and defensive stats( because you don't need to defend when you've got the puck in the offensive end) the same if you're defending most of the time, that will affect your stats negatively on both side for the same exact reason.
and yes liljegren are better offensively but Benoit clearly better than Liljegren in the defensive side and both are not even close... but at the end that change absolutly nothing on this discussion