Here's the thing. Warso had this team playing well in the end of November. Perhaps too well for Grier, so he shipped out Blackwood. Yes there are bigger reasons for that trade and its timing (Avs desperation), but considering as it is the Sharks have tire fire defense, shipping out your #1 goalie in Nov/Dec instead of the trade deadline was a blow in terms of Warso trying to squeak out wins. (And let's point out, when the Sharks were on a little run before dealing Blackwood, nobody was criticizing Warso. But when they lose, out comes the nicknames. lol smh)
Let's also note that if Warso was all about a permanent 1-3-1 trap system and eeked out enough wins to be out of the race for #1 overall pick, heads would roll. So literally Warso gets the short end of the stick no matter how things play out.
Bottom line though: At the beginning of the year, Warso said his goal was make the Sharks a "difficult" team to play against. He wanted opponents to leave every game with the Sharks thinking, "man that was a battle." Go back and listen to those interviews when he was hired and when the season started. And he's succeeded. They aren't winning because of the tire fire defense and Georgiev, but they are battling and achieve the exact goal Warso set.
Sad bottom line: Not sure what Warso's contract is. I asked when he was hired, and nobody (including Peng) would say or knows. I assume 3 seasons. I think he's going to lead this team to year over year point improvements (including this year), and when his contract is up (which I think 3 seasons, so at end of 26-27), I bet Grier replaces him with the best veteran HC available in the 27 offseason. And I think a 27-28 contending squad that needs an HC will see what Warso did in SJ over 3 seasons and hire him to be their HC, and then we'll really get to see how Warso does with a team that has playoff expectations.
The only way we'll (likely) see what Warso can do with a contending Sharks team is if Grier speeds up the rebuild timeline, and Grier has shown zero indications of that.