The planned makeover of the Islanders’ AHL outfit has a face and a name to it. 

Rocky Thompson was named the newest coach of the Bridgeport Islanders on Monday morning, as the Islanders look to turn around what’s been a disastrous few years for their minor league pipeline. 

The 47-year-old Thompson spent the past five seasons in the NHL, three as an assistant coach for the Flyers and two as an associate coach for the Sharks.

Prior to that, Thompson was a head coach with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves and the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, winning a championship with the latter and reaching the Calder Cup Final with the former. 

The Islanders are in desperate need of a turnaround with their minor league club, where the entire coaching staff was let go after an embarrassing 15-50-4-3 record this season that included just four wins at home.

That was the third time in four seasons that Bridgeport missed the playoffs, and it was a fait accompli that coach Rick Kowalsky would be a goner after the season. 

It currently appears that Chris Lamoriello will stay on as general manager in Bridgeport.

After having his contract extended by Lou Lamoriello prior to his ouster as GM of the Islanders, Chris retains the title and was allowed to stay in place for the hiring of a new coach. 

Still, the culture that atrophied in Bridgeport, helping result in an all-time bad season and the stagnation of multiple prospects, needs to change under Thompson. 

“I believe in developing in a winning environment [in the AHL],” new GM Mathieu Darche said at his introductory news conference. “It doesn’t mean you’re gonna win every year. The AHL’s one of the toughest places to coach because you have your injuries, you have the NHL injuries, there’s various factors, teams trade draft picks, you don’t have as many prospects. 

“I believe in developing and winning. The AHL will definitely be a focus for me. Your players have to be ready cause let’s face it, every team needs players called up during the year.” 

That is all the more important now, with the Islanders holding the top pick in this week’s draft and seriously invested in Cole Eiserman, Calum Ritchie, Isaiah George and Danny Nelson as pieces of the future. 

It’s possible that none of those players — including whoever is taken first overall — will start next season in Bridgeport, but the minors will be a likely stop along most of their developmental paths at some point. 

Moreover, it’s crucial to build the sort of organizational depth that the Islanders were exposed as lacking at points last season when injuries hit.

That can’t happen if the AHL club is at the pitiful level Bridgeport descended to last season.