Did Whitebeard's death make any progress in Luffy's career as a pirate and leave him one step closer to finding One Piece and discovering the entire history of the lost century just like Kid and Law? NOT.
The death of Whitebeard made Wano a country of paramount importance to the story in which Oda mentioned in an interview being the most important arc of the series is it under Luffy's rule and influence? No, Kaidou's expulsion/death resulted in that, remember that.
And there are a lot of things I could mention here, but honestly, Whitebeard's death didn't change shit.