He'd be great with them, and he'd be great with your team. Most of the jargon you hear about Julien on this board is pure fantasy.
Julien gave Wideman his first chance at big minutes and Wideman had a great year for him in 09. He coached Sheldon Souray to his first breakout offensive season with 15 goals. He had Markov in his second full season and played him 21+ minutes a game. He had Brian Rafalski in NJ and played him 25:29 a game and helped him have what was at the time, a career year. In the three years he's had Torey Krug he's steadily increased his ice time and responsibility and this year Krug put up career numbers with 44points and 21:36 of ice time.
I think the thing that frustrates and or confuses most fans is that he's patient and protective with young players. If a young player is struggling and/or losing confidence, he'll sit him out to watch and learn or send him down to get his confidence back up. So there's this cry from the cheap seats that he hates kids, but he's shown no hesitancy to play young players who were actually ready to contribute. Pastrnak this year and last, Seguin as a sophomore, Krug as a rookie...
Personally I don't think he gets enough credit for developing and integrating young players WHILE AT THE SAME TIME remaining competitive. Krejci, Pastrnak, Lucic, Marchand, Reilly Smith, Wheeler, Seguin, Boychuk, Rask, Wideman, Krug, McQuaid, Bartkowski, Hunwick, Kampfer, Spooner, Kessel, Kevan Miller, Dougie Hamilton.... This year, Colin Miller and Frank Vatrano saw about 40 games each. Next year, they'll be full time players in regular roles, following the same developmental path as Krejci and Marchand.
