The only two young players he's put in a position to succeed are Pouliot and Leipsic. And I think we know what they have in common.
Virtanen, Goldobin, Gaunce, Hutton, Stecher, and yes Boeser have all had to work their tails off and over-achieve for every scrap of icetime, and are demoted for the smallest mistake. Or at least in the case of Boeser, this is how it was until it became blindingly obvious he was our best offensive player. Look at Virtanen tonight. Was our best player against NYI, had an average game against Arizona in a game where everyone stunk, and is promptly demoted again so we can shovel top-line icetime at the useless Gagner.
Don't get me wrong - I love how he's handled Leipsic. The problem is how he's handled everyone else. And this goes back to Utica, where every single pro rookie that he was given ended up under-achieving because they weren't put in positions to succeed, either.
Virtanen has been tried in every position. He has no consistency in his effort level. I'm not sure what the deal is with Hutton, but obviously something off the ice is really pissing Green off. I love Stecher, but he's not a top 4 D yet, from what I can see.
Obviously, things aren't perfect. Politics and trying to not make your boss look like an idiot play into it. I hate how Del Zaster and RealGud have been gifted ice time. MDZ apparently works his ass off though, and part of managing a young team is cultivating the team culture so that you don't poison the well.
Boeser was scratched the first two games of the year, for whatever dumb reason (cultivating culture I guess), and was still played huge minutes through some bad droughts. Blame his bum wrist, or whatever, but he hadn't been lighting the lamp since the calendar flipped. Gaunce has had plenty of time to prove himself, and he was playing in his role consistently before his injury. Did you want to see Gaunce on the first powerplay unit?
Leipsic came in and performed immediately, his first shift you could tell there was *energy.* His energy has been consistent, and so have his offensive contributions. Virtanen has been tried everywhere. He has a decent game and then he has a horrible game. I've never seen the kind of effort out of him that I've seen from Leipsic in three games. Finally, after two years, he's *maybe* turned a corner. I don't care if Green plays "favourites" if the favourites play like they give a damn.
I like Stecher a ton. Another player with heart, but I'm not sure his role should be any bigger right now. He hasn't shown much offensive knack (not that any of our D have, but Green and his assistants can't make Jimbo look like too big a fool...).
A lot of things that happen are due to off-ice or behind-the-scenes stuff, or team politics. Usually when something is mysterious, it's because of off-ice issues. Google how many players have been traded in the NHL due to shacking up with a teammate's wife. Those moves are confusing on the surface, and I'm sure the radio stations in the respective cities were flooded with angry callers who had no idea what was really going on (by design, obviously. Those NHL players are all upstanding, clean cut, drug free, no-scandal guys!).