Anders Lee, raw and real in the wake of the Islanders’ season ending on Friday night, did not equivocate.

Yes, he believes this core of players can still contend for the Stanley Cup.

“I don’t know why it wouldn’t,” Lee told The Post. “This is just a part of our journey. This really f–king sucks. We gotta live with it and learn from it. And come back stronger.”

Following a 2-1 overtime loss to the Hurricanes that saw their season end with a six-game loss to Carolina in the first round of the playoffs, though, the Islanders have a series of questions about the organization’s future to confront.

First, regarding general manager Lou Lamoriello.

And second, regarding the roster.

It is not known whether Lamoriello, who turned 80 in October, has signed a contract to stay on as president and general manager for the Islanders next season.

It is, however, widely believed throughout the league that the deal he originally signed when hired in 2018 was for five seasons — in other words, set to expire at the end of this season.

Lamoriello twice won the NHL’s GM of the Year Award with the Islanders, in 2020 and 2021 but has come under increasing scrutiny over the team’s struggles the last two seasons.

Asked early this month whether he had discussed a contract extension with ownership, he replied with a diatribe about the difference between “common knowledge” and “facts.”

“Obviously,” he said, “none of you know what’s going on with [the contract].”

Regardless of whether Lamoriello stays on, the question in front of the Islanders this summer is whether to tinker only around the edges or to make a tectonic shift in the core of the team.

Pierre Engvall, Hudson Fasching, Zach Parise, Scott Mayfield, Parker Wotherspoon and Semyon Varlamov are all set to enter unrestricted free agency, though in Parise’s case, whether or not he returns likely comes down to a decision on retirement.

But players who are still under contract, such as Josh Bailey (who was a healthy scratch for the entirety of the first-round loss), Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin — who make up an important part of the leadership core — could be candidates for buyouts or trades should the Isles decide the bottom-six needs to look different.

And, with Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal under contract long term, will the Islanders attempt to trade one of their top-nine centers — Jean-Gabriel Pageau or Brock Nelson — and put roster resources elsewhere, or keep Horvat and Barzal arm-in-arm on the top line?

The Islanders are not about to embark on a complete teardown, the cost-benefit analysis of which does not compute in their favor right now.

But after staying the course last offseason, the same questions are very much at play this time around.