Looking at the total roster, I see 31 players. That is:
3 goalies
10 Defensemen
18 Forwards
So that means we have 1 goalie, 4 D-men, and 6 forwards to spare.
There's something to be said about having a bigger team. Wider pool of talent to choose from. More customizability available. For some games, coach may choose to strategically sit some of the bigger guys in favor of some of the smaller, faster guys. Or vice versa. More competition between the the players, as each player is acutely aware that there's another player breathing down his neck, wanting his position. Provides for more stability if there are injuries during the season. Out of any class of recruits, there's always a chance that some of them may not have as much upside as was expected. With a bigger team, once you figure out who those players are, you don't have to play them. On a smaller team, you may have no choice.
Then again, there can be advantages to a smaller team. The players get to know each other better. Instead of competing against each other, they can build trust in one another. The lineup doesn't change much so they get used to playing with the same guys over and over, and start to get a feel for the other players' styles. Think about the Whitelaw-Rodrigues-Moodie line. The guys practically read each other's minds by the time they were in their junior years. By senior year, they didn't just know what the other guys on their line were thinking, they knew what they were ABOUT to think. With a small team you get more of those connections, as the same players get used to playing with each other.
6 seniors
5 juniors
13 sophomores
7 freshmen
I'm hoping next year's recruiting class will have at least a couple sophomore transfers to soften the impact of when those 13 sophomores graduate. Unless rebuilding the team from scratch every 4 years is part of the plan from now on. It worked pretty well last year.
