Mitchell Vande Sompel

July 2022 – After the Isles waived him, Vande Sompel signed with the Colorado Eagles, the AHL affiliate of the Avalanche. His development has been short-circuited by the pandemic and injuries, notably an arm problem that cost him an entire season. The 25-year-old converted forward is dynamic offensively. Although he’s up to 198 pounds, concerns remain about his ability to defend. He’ll have time to work on that in the AHL because the parent Avs are well-stocked with offensive blueliners. Might he be moved back up front? Mark Allan

March 2022 – Vande Sompel’s game is not trending well in his fourth AHL season. It would have been his fifth pro campaign if he hadn’t missed the entire 2019-20 season with a serious arm injury. Getting into just 20 games in a COVID-shortened 2020-21 season also hurt his development. No goals and 12 assists in 43 appearances this season are not what is expected from a converted forward. An impending UFA, he’s not guaranteed a contract offer from the Isles. Mark Allan

October 2021 – Vande Sompel was among 10 players waived by the Islanders in their first round of training camp transactions. He was assigned to the Bridgeport Islanders of the AHL. Mark Allan

July 2021 – Could the pandemic have arrived at a worse time for a converted forward still learning a new position? After missing the entire 2019-20 campaign with an arm injury, Vande Sompel had five assists in 20 outings during the Covid-shortened AHL schedule. He’s got one more season before becoming an RFA. Mark Allan

March 2021 – After missing all of last season, he’s off to an understandably slow start with Bridgeport. After seven AHL appearances, he had two assists and was minus-8. Mark Allan

October 2020 – Almost like he’s starting over after an arm injury cost him the entire 2019-20 campaign, the 23-year-old signed a two-year, two-way contract. When he’s in an NHL game, Vande Sompel will be paid based on a $725,000 AAV and about $100,000 for any minor-league outing. The converted forward creates offense from the back end, although his defensive game needs work. Mark Allan

October 2020 – Although he missed an entire season due to an arm injury, the converted forward received a qualifying offer to prevent him from becoming a UFA. The lost campaign temporarily short-circuited his ongoing transition to the blueline, but the Islanders apparently want to see a larger sample size from the potential offenseman who has 128 AHL games and 60 points on his resumé. Mark Allan

February 2020 – An RFA after the season, Vande Sompel couldn’t have suffered a season-ending arm injury at a worse time. Hurt during training camp, the offensively minded converted forward is a threat to cause a goal at both ends of the rink. In 128 AHL games over two campaigns, he has 17 goals and 60 points, or 4.7 points per game. If the Islanders offer him a contract (a good bet would be a thrifty bridge contract), the 23-year-old will need to play some more for the Sound Tigers to make up for lost time. Mark Allan

March 2018 – With Sebastian Aho seeing NHL time and Devon Toews due to miss the rest of the season, Vande Sompel stands to benefit from being thrust into more of an offensive role. With 22 points in 42 games, Vande Sompel is poised to take over the team lead in points among blueliners in Bridgeport. The concerns about the former third-round selection are not new; he is a rather carefree and adventurous defenseman who struggles to not hemorrhage goals when he’s out there. This will need to be cleaned up before he can make a legitimate claim at an NHL roster spot. Michael Farkas

January 2017 – Mitchell Vande Sompel has been acquired by his hometown London Knights of the OHL. The perennial ‘point per game’ defenseman in the OHL will add to a deep Knights D-core. With the likes of Victor Mete, and Olli Juolevi, Vande Sompel will look to provide some leadership, experience, and offense to the London Knights. For an NHL prospect, Vande Sompel ranks high in all offensive categories; skating, smarts, puck handling, passing. He is a bit undersized, but that is not an issue in the way the game is played today. If he can improve defensively while continuing to display his offensive ability, the Islanders could have a very good prospect on their hands. Still young enough to be a few years away from reaching the NHL or Pro, but with talent like he has, it is not unreachable. Kevin Pedersen

June 2016 – Mitchell Vande Sompel was injured to begin the 2015-16 campaign, and was unable to replicate his offensive numbers from his draft year. In fact, he only managed eight primary points at even strength in his 46 games played. Part of that lies in the fact that the Generals as a whole took a step back, but it is always concerning to see a prospect regress statistically in the CHL. This is especially true given the fact that there are concerns about Vande Sompel’s game on the defensive side of the puck. Nevertheless, the young man from London will be expected to be a leader in Oshawa in 2016-17, and anything less than a point per game will be a disappointment. Brent Craswell

 June 2015 – The New York Islanders selected defenseman Mitchell Vande Sompel with the 82nd pick of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Brendan Ross

March 2015 – The smooth skating heads-up defenseman Mitchell Vande Sompel has become one of the more debated 2015 NHL Draft prospects. Extremely gifted on his skates and fortunate to own an innate ability to read the ice, anticipating gaps in coverage and open seams, Vande Sompel uses his gift to lead the attack from the blue line. A pure puck mover in every sense of the word, Vande Sompel thrives with the puck on his stick quickly transitioning it up ice with ease. Neither big nor strong, Vande Sompel does struggle with the rigors of defending his own zone but his positional sense and overall anticipation provide him with the necessary tools to develop into a respectable defenseman once that strength and battle-tested hunger is instilled. His ability to walk the line with his heads up projects him as a worthy powerplay quarterback. Unfortunately, Vande Sompel has battled some concussion issues but when he’s in the lineup the Oshawa Generals are a much more dangerous and efficient team. After taking on a large role as a rookie in 2013-14, Vande Sompel has welcomed even more responsibility as a sophomore and currently sits T-4^th in OHL defensive scoring with 11 goals and 59 points through 54 games. Brendan Ross