Rocky Thompson delivered some sage advice to the prospects as the Islanders’ summer development camp ended: Keep your head up.

Literally.

“That was a detail for me that I think is so overlooked with young hockey players,” said Thompson, who oversaw development camp after being hired as coach of the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport on June 23.

“They’re all fast. They can shoot the puck a hundred miles an hour. Not all play with their head up. And that’s really where hockey sense comes from, is getting your eyes and taking in information. It’s a habit that can be taught.”

Russian forward Daniil Prokhorov, a second-round pick this year, could perhaps benefit from that lesson the most. He’s an extremely raw talent with an NHL-sized body at 6-6, 218 pounds, who couples an NHL-ready shot with an impressive desire to shoot often.

Thompson said being able to skate and play with eyes forward instead of down can greatly improve a player’s offensive output. But communicating with Prokhorov, who does not speak any English, was a challenge.

“He was making pretty good passes without his eyes being up,” Thompson said. “He probably saw me doing hand signals out there. I don’t know if it was penetrating or not. You notice his eyes are down but I think he’d be able to bring them up easily. He just doesn’t know what we’re saying.”

Off the ice, Thompson, a Flyers assistant coach the past three seasons under John Tortorella, spent his development camp building a working relationship with Islanders coach Patrick Roy.

Thompson also was an associate coach with the Sharks under new Islanders assistant coach Bob Boughner.

“The whole staff,” Thompson said on Thursday. “We literally have been communicating on hockey nonstop for the last three days.”

“Very impressed with him,” Roy said of Thompson. “You could tell he’s learned a lot over the years with different coaches. He’s very passionate.”

Forward Danny Nelson, a second-round pick in 2023, is headed back to Notre Dame for his junior season. He’s not sure whether he’ll play one or two more seasons of NCAA hockey.

“It’s whenever I feel ready,” the 6-3, 216-pound Nelson said. “It’s nice to be in college and be able to feel it out. I want to be the best that I can be when leaving college.”

He added he’s focusing on continuing the defensive improvements he made as a sophomore.

It’s been quite the whirlwind for Czech forward Tomas Poletin — who played in Finland last season — as the Islanders selected him in the fourth round and brought him to his first NHL summer prospect development camp, during which he was selected first overall in the Canadian junior CHL import draft.

He’ll play for Kelowna of the Western Hockey League this season and the 6-1, 205-pound Poletin believes his style meshes well with the smaller North American rinks.

“You have to have, pretty much, the big offensive role, big minutes,” Poletin said. “I like to be the leader on the team so I’m super excited for that. Every time when I played in North American on a smaller rink, it’s been great for me. It kind of suits my game. I try to be physical and play around the net and be strong on the puck.”

The Islanders signed KHL standout Maxim Shabanov (23 goals, 44 assists in 65 games last season for Chelyabinsk Traktor) to a one-year, $975,000 deal with the hope his dynamic puckhandling and speed will translate to the NHL even with a 5-8, 156-pound frame.

“He’s a small forward that plays big,” coach Patrick Roy said. “He goes into traffic. And what I also did like is the way he played in his defensive zone coverages. Sometimes you bring a guy in and you feel like the adjustment is going to be very difficult but I don’t think it will be for him because he’s capable of playing well defensively.”

Roy coached against Shabanov’s KHL coach, Benoit Groulx, in Canadian juniors, and knows him to be very structured.

Newsday colleague Matt Lindsay learned the following interesting tidbit from Laurel Hollow’s Marshall Warren regarding his relationship with former Islander captain John Tavares during a conversation with the 24-year-old defenseman this week at summer prospect development camp.

“I’m pretty much, through and through, the most Long Island guy you can get,” Warren told Lindsay. “I was the guy when John Tavares got drafted in 2009 at the draft party and then going out to skate. I actually played mini sticks with Tavares because he played with [former Islanders player and coach] Doug Weight and [his son] Danny Weight was on my team.

“I got pretty close with John, played Xbox with him. I’m so connected to the organization. When I signed with them, it was pretty special.”

The NHL Players’ Association announced restricted free agent forward Maxim Tsyplakov elected salary arbitration just before Saturday’s deadline. Sunday is the deadline for club-elected salary arbitration — forward Marc Gatcomb is the Islanders’ other RFA — with the hearings from July 20-Aug. 4.

Tsyplakov received a qualifying offer of $897,750 while Gatcomb’s QO is $813,750. The Islanders have $3.9 million in space under the $95.5 million salary cap with 23 players signed.