Does anyone actually have anything positive to say about his coaching thus far? Or is the only rebuttal to anyone thinking he is not looking like a great coach so far, that he is a rookie so let him cook?
1. While the record is similar, the goal differential and competitiveness in games has been much higher. This is evident in the stats, from the eye test, and from what other coaches and players are saying about the team. 21 games so far decided by one goal.
2. The structure is better, although last night wasn't a great example.
3. Every time I see someone complain about line combos, within 2-3 games we see a change that tries the thing. Generally he has been very willing to try new things, and to the extent any line isn't awesome, it's usually an injury problem, or a decision like last night that is critique-worthy but probably not winning is the game (Kovalenko for Goodrow). Great example, two games ago many people were very mad about Smith being stuck in the bottom 6. He's been stapled to Celebrini since, and I don't think the line possesses the puck as well as 72-71-73 or -20, but Smith looks a lot better. Instead of saying "I'm glad Warso made the change," lots of whining about Goodrow or "why'd he take so long" when we were also nearly winning 6 of the last 7 games, deserving or no.
4. It's a better lineup, but marginally so. He's got the team playing better hockey, circling back to #1. PP is better, PK is better, 5v5 is better, there is a system in place even if that system yields too many shots against, is still better than last year. Complaints like "there's no offensive flow or possession" are only true about the last few games when, as I have repeatedly stated, we are missing our best LW and our #1D. The team has a low skill ceiling and so the margin for error is thin. You play good teams with a bad lineup with injuries, you're going to have a very thin margin for error. That doesn't really fall on the coach.
More generally, everyone loves to complain about the coach and the third and fourth liners. It's been like this on HFB since I can remember. In a cap era, it's a rare team that doesn't have some dud replacement players in the bottom 6 and the team's success rarely hinges on them. Coaches can be extremely bad or extremely good but the vast majority of them are probably replacement level average themselves in terms of tactics, line combos, and game management. Fans want someone to blame when the reality is, most of the time, the team you're rooting for just isn't very good.