Are the Sounders reloading or rebuilding?

Farewell, sweet prince. Mike Russell / Sounder at HeartAs of Wednesday, the Seattle Sounders have just 18 players under contract, suggesting this could be an offseason with significant change. But the overall sentiment from the press conference featuring Garth Lagerwey and Brian Schmetzer was that they both expect to have a team that looks an awful like the one that just won MLS Cup when they start their Concacaf Champions League campaign next February.

Among the current out-of-contract players who could end up back on the team are midfielder Harry Shipp and centerbacks Román Torres and Kim Kee-hee. That would still leave plenty of room for change, but it would also return the vast majority…