Islanders Promote Rocky Thompson, Rewarding the AHL Coach for a Successful Season

The Islanders rewarded him for it. They promoted him to the NHL team as an assistant coach on Peter DeBoer’s staff. “He’s a brilliant coach, he’s so smart with his structure,” Chris Terry noted at the end of the season, after the team secured a home playoff game, the last in Bridgeport.

The move brings Thompson back to the NHL as the AHL team enters the Hamilton, Ontario era. This is the Best Option for the Islanders  This move keeps Thompson on their staff, and he won’t leave the AHL team for another opportunity. It’s easy to assume he wouldn’t have done that but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

The Hartford Wolf Pack fired Grant Potulny earlier in the week and needs a coach to come in and clean up the mess, something Thompson did with the neighboring Connecticut rival (and New York NHL rival) You May Also Like: Hartford’s Struggles Reflect New York Rangers Organizational Failure Thompson is also a good coach to have around for a younger team, especially a team that retooled on the fly this season. It’s unclear if the Islanders are leaning into a retool or pushing to contend or attempting both at the same time. Regardless of the direction, the Islanders have a youth movement on the way, and it’s good to have Thompson around for that.

Related: AHL Notebook: Easton Cowan, Cleveland, Calder Cup Battles & More He’s not an X’s and O’s coach or a coach who is brought in because of the system he runs. Instead, Thompson is someone players want to play for, and they play above expectation under his watch. That’s all the Islanders need.