While doodling around with potential lines — including newly-signed KHL standout Maxim Shabanov — and defense pairs for the coming season, a few things become clear about the Islanders.

Firstly, recently hired general manager and executive vice president Mathieu Darche — who’s been a very busy boy — has improved both the team and the organizational depth through the NHL Draft and Tuesday’s opening of the free agent market, even taking into account he was forced to trade defenseman Noah Dobson to the Canadiens after a contract impasse.

Darche continued what should be framed as his winning streak on Wednesday by re-signing restricted free agent forward Emil Heineman, acquired in the Dobson deal, to a two-year, $2.2 million deal. Then came the coveted Shabanov, 24, a shifty skater who is pint-sized for the NHL at 5-8, 156 pounds but who finished third in the KHL in scoring with 23 goals and 44 assists in 65 games last season for Traktor Chelyabinsk. His one-year, entry-level deal carries a salary cap charge of $975,000.

Still, and secondly, the Islanders are not yet an upper-echelon Stanley Cup contender. Right now, make the playoffs and anything can happen must be their mantra.

Thirdly, it’s going to be an interesting training camp to answer some of the following questions:

Can No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer jump straight from Canadian junior hockey to the NHL as he turns 18 just a couple of weeks before camp opens? Remember, defensemen tend to develop less quickly than forwards.

“The draft is good, fun but [time to] put the work boots on,” Schaefer said during the Islanders’ summer prospect development camp this week at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow. “You want to play in the NHL and you want to play as long as you can. For me, it’s just getting my body ready and working as hard as I can playing with NHL guys all summer. They’re going to be pushing me.”

Is goalie Semyon Varlamov going to be healthy after Darche signaled otherwise by signing veteran backup David Rittich as an unrestricted free agent?

Is Anthony Duclair ready and willing to contribute after an injury-plagued first season with the Islanders and a bad ending between him and coach Patrick Roy?

Which forwards will comprise the top 12 after Jonathan Drouin and Shabanov were brought in as free agents and Heineman via trade?

Can rookie Calum Ritchie earn a steady role, potentially as a second-line center?

Related, are the Islanders better off with Mathew Barzal remaining on top-line center Bo Horvat’s wing or returning to his natural position as a pivot?

Finally, can Shabanov’s obvious skill translate to the more physical NHL despite his size.

Here’s a preliminary doodle of an opening night lineup:

Ilya Sorokin backed up by either Varlamov or Rittich

: Alexander Romanov-Tony DeAngelo; Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock; Schaefer-Adam Boqvist or Scott Mayfield.

Duclair-Horvat-Kyle Palmieri; Drouin-Barzal-Holmstrom; Anders Lee-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Shabanov; Maxim Tsyplakov-Casey Cizikas-Heineman.

That doodle, of course, does not include Pierre Engvall, Kyle MacLean or Marc Gatcomb, all regulars at one point or another last season among the bottom-six forwards. Nor does it include Ritchie when perhaps it absolutely should.

So it’s good to have depth and choices.

But it’s even better to have top-notch speed, consistent scoring and a reliable power play and Darche believes bringing in Drouin on a two-year, $8 million deal and re-signing DeAngelo to a one-year, $1.75 million deal will help in those areas.

“You do your research and you know what the value of the player is and you make sure you don’t overpay,” Darche said on Tuesday. “Because one contract might not hurt you now but it might hurt you later. I think we stayed disciplined today and, in all honesty, I think we’ve improved the team.”

Darche’s mandate wasn’t just to improve the NHL roster. The AHL affiliate in Bridgeport has been, to be blunt, in shambles the past few seasons with a lack of prospects developing and a lack of winning.

Help will start to come through this year’s draft as Schaefer was one of three first-rounders for the Islanders and one of nine picks overall.

Darche hired former Flyers assistant coach Rocky Thompson as Bridgeport’s new bench boss and, on Tuesday, brought in some decent players to help fill out the AHL roster. Ethan Bear is a journeyman defenseman with some NHL experience. Cole McWard is also an experienced AHL blue-liner. Up front, Darche signed forward Matthew Highmore, who has 187 games of NHL experience.

If Varlamov is healthy, Rittich will solidify Bridgeport’s goaltending along with, presumably, veteran Marcus Hogberg, who was pressed into service as Sorokin’s backup last season.

Darche has also positioned the Islanders for salary cap flexibility in the coming seasons. He did not hand out a deal longer than two seasons on Tuesday and Pageau, with a cap charge of $5 million, and Lee, with a cap charge of $7 million, are both entering the last seasons of their contracts.

That’s $12 million coming off the books with the salary cap expected to rise another $9.5 million in 2026-27 to $104 million.

So, no, the Islanders will not enter this season as Cup favorites. But it’s easy to see what Darche is trying to build.