Quoting: Not_Isles5513
He hasn’t done anything wrong with the forwards he has had in Bridgeport. He just hasn’t had any to develop. Closest thing to a good prospect that went thru Bridgeport when he was bench boss were Beau for a short stint and Verhaeghe….
Not to derail this thread, but let's take a quick walk down this road. For reference, Brent Thompson was Bridgeport head coach in 2011-12, was an NHL assistant the next 2 seasons, and has been back in Bridgeport full-time since 2014-15. Let's look at some Islanders forward drafted in the 1st/2nd round since 2014:
2014: #5 OA Michael Dal Colle(138 AHL games before his NHL debut; 21 points in 112 NHL GP), #28 OA Josh Ho-Sang (172 AHL games & 53 NHL games before being let go)
2015: #16 OA Mat Barzal (0 AHL games), #28 OA Anthony Beauvillier (one 3-game "get yr head straight" stint in 2017-18)
2016: #19 OA Kieffer Bellows (125 AHL GP before NHL debut, 68 GP, 11-14-25 before being waived)
2018: #11 OA Oliver Wahlstrom (50 AHL GP before debut)
2019: #23 OA Simon Holmstrom (153 AHL GP before debut, 2 points in 18 NHL GP so far)
2020: #52 OA Aatu Raty (29 AHL GP before debut)
By my count, Dal Colle, Ho-Sang, Bellows, and (as of now) Holmstrom would qualify as 1st rounders that spent significant time in Bridgeport and have not lived up to their draft pedigree. Barzal, Beau, & Wahlstrom spent limited time in Bridgeport and while you might not love them all the time, I don't think you can argue that they're at least serviceable NHL players. Jury's out on Raty and Iskhakov so far, but fingers crossed he doesn't get too much time with them.
Not sure how much of that you can chalk up to Thompson and how much to organizational philosophy. And he's done some pretty good stuff with defenders - 3rd rounder Adam Pelech is an All-Star, Devon Toews spent a lot of time down there with him, Sebastian Aho is a 5th rounder who's become a solid NHL regular, hell, even 5th rounder Parker Wotherspoon and 7th rounder Kyle Burroughs have held their own at the NHL level. But I think it's kind of damning when you both look at the fact that the Isles' best homegrown offensive forwards spent zero time with him, and the fact that *that many* first round picks flamed out after spending extended time playing for him.