His defense isnt atrocious, its just not good enough to be a C (in conjunction with the fact that he's weak on faceoffs). That said, your critiques are exactly what I outlined as needing improvement.... too soft, not consistent enough, and not good enough defensively. You say White is a fringe 12th/13th forward, I said last year he played like a 4RW... your tone conveys a big confrontation but I addressed literally everything you brought up in your post.
As for your questions:
1) As I said, all he needs is to improve in one area and he will be a viable 3rd liner. You don't need to be a shutdown player to play on a 3rd line.
2) There are very few players who contribute nightly and even fewer guys who do so when they are 21/22. What you are describing is a "special player" which White is not and never was supposed to be. When White is playing well, though, he does all the things I outlined above. No need to wait.
White certainly isn't tough or gritty, and I'm not sure I've seen much of that expressed, but in his rookie year he was a very active and competent forechecker. Not physically, but he got his stick in lanes, on guys sticks, and on the puck. When he was struggling offensively last year and not doing that, that to me was the biggest disappointment. But, to me, that is a matter of will, and if the will is there, he will get back to doing that. Offense, who knows.... will doesnt go as long a way with offense, although it certainly can help a lot.
