There seems to be a lot of confusion and discord going on about the question, whether the new Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Switch will be really a new game or just an enhanced port of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Wii U, potentially with contents from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS included. The internet is in disagreement and the same facts are used to argue for and against a new game at the same time...
We already know that Masahiro Sakurai is working on the title, which for some is proof alone that this will be an entirely new game. On the other hand he also said that they went beyond their limits with the last game, where a sequel would lead to cut character and contents, which would lead to complaints (source). So, getting a full new game two years after they were done with the DLC for the last one seems somewhat unlikely.
The most reasonable assumption is that this will be a mix of both, an enhanced port that slowly became its own game. The development could have started with porting the contents of both Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Wii U and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS to the Nintendo Switch, where the 3DS stages saw an HD upgrade. This way Sakurai's team at Sora Ltd. would have a massive basis to expand from, where they can focus on additions and improvements. Instead of starting over from scratch, they take the contents from the previous iteration without cutting anything and start adding things on top and bringing things up-to-date.
The latter is quite important, because one gripe you can have with every Smash after the first one is that they are mostly representing the previous generation, often because the planning and development started during that era. Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii for example added contents based on Super Mario Sunshine, a GameCube title, while Super Mario Galaxy already had been released on the Wii. Contents based on Galaxy then were included in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, but Super Mario 3D World already came out one year earlier on the system... Or Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS featured stages based on The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and even Ocarina of Time 3D, but sadly didn't have anything from A Link Between Worlds. It's a curse, where Smash games already feel outdated on release. There were exceptions, of course, like a stage based on Yoshi's Woolly World, before the game even was released.
But by re-using the previous game, they can focus on making these exceptions the rule, because the core is already there, which means that they have more time for contents from newer games. And this already shows with Link being present in his Breath of the Wild incarnation, which is one of the most important faces for the Nintendo Switch. Ideally, Mario would also be based on Super Mario Odyssey, where he uses Cappy instead of the F.L.U.D.D., and we get stages from both games, like the Odyssey and the Great Plateau.
Other additions based on recent Switch and later Wii U games are likely as well. Take the teaser from the last Nintendo Direct, replace the Inklings with Spring Man and Ribbon Girl battling it out and at the end put the burning Smash logo into Spring Man's eye to enter ARMS into the franchise. A character from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is likely as well, probably Rex, the main character (though Pyra and Mythra would be more pleasing to the eyes). With Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker coming to the Switch, Toad should finally become part of the roster as well, because he certainly deserves to be more than Peach's doll for eternity.
If they are really good, they will also add contents based on future Switch games, e.g. something from Metroid Prime 4, like Sylux as a new playable character. If the rumors about Bandai Namco developing the title are indeed true, this wouldn't be too unlikely, since they had been involved with Smash 4 a great deal. And there will be a new Fire Emblem game with new main characters to join the Smash roster, of course. These reveals could go hand in hand with showcases of new games at E3.
At the same time, being an enhanced port of the last game, all the "old" contents will still be present. And that's not a bad thing. Only this way it will have a real chance of becoming the biggest Smash Bros. up to date, yet again. With the DLC of previous titles they even brought back some veterans like Mewtwo, Lucas or Roy and retro stages like Dream Land 64, Hyrule Castle and Tetra's Pirate Ship. And they could keep doing this here. Bring back the Ice Climbers, now that the limitations of the Nintendo 3DS are gone. Bring back Wolf. Maybe even bring back some of those other Pokémon and some more retro stages like Green Greens or Great Bay, this time based on Majora's Mask 3D.
Well, the majority of past stages and characters was already included in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U & Nintendo 3DS. It even felt like they recycled a little bit too much. But by adding on top of that and focusing on delivering new contents, this could certainly become the ultimate Super Smash Bros., spanning the entire history of the series and Nintendo as a whole. That's why Nintendo won't call it "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Switch", because it would give the wrong idea, despite this most likely being based on a port. Unlike the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS iterations, this won't be split up into two different games, this will combine it all and add more on top.
Existing characters could also see updates in form of new moves and alternates. Link was already shown in his Breath of the Wild appearance, which could mean many things. It could be just a visual update to the existing character, the existing character could have seen a couple of updates in the moves or it's a completely new "Wild Link" character on his own. Sheikah Slate Bombs could replace the classic Bombs, the Paraglider with Revali's Gale could be his new recovery move, Ancient Arrows could be his new Final Smash, Magnesis could replace the Boomerang, Stasis and Link's newfound climbing abilities could replace the Hookshot, and Daruk's Protection could be his shield. There are many possibilities here.
Let's say that they've updated the existing Link with Breath of the Wild features, it's still possible that you could re-create the classic Link using alternate costumes and custom moves. With Super Smash Bros. for Wii U & Nintendo 3DS they already started giving characters alternates that aren't just color swaps, but completely different models and sometimes even different characters. There's Bayonetta with different hair styles, there are male and female versions of the Fire Emblem protagonists and the Villager from Animal Crossing, there's Bowser Jr. with the Koopalings and Alph as an alternate for Olimar. In addition there were characters, who had completely unique custom moves, like Palutena.
They could expand on that to dive through the history of certain characters. Link could have alternates based on Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask (Fierce Deity), Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, while the Gale Boomerang from Twilight Princess could be one of his custom moves. Zelda could also see an update of her appearance based on Breath of the Wild, but offer Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword alternates at the same time.
Other alternates could be real costumes and armors from the respective games, e.g. Breath of the Wild Link could have different armors from the game, like the Zora Armor, the Ancient Armor or the Wild Tunic. Or Toon Link could get different outfits from Tri Force Heroes, like the Spin Attack Attire or the Sword Suit. Samus would be a perfect candidate for this treatment, because so far she only got color swaps based on here different Power Suits, instead of the suits themselves. Give her the Fusion Suit, the Dark Suit, the Light Suit, the PED and so on.
With new characters there's also some potential for real alternates, as in different characters. Inklings will most likely come both in their male and female form. With ARMS it's possible that Spring Man will have Springtron as one of his alternates. Maybe even Ribbon Girl could become one, though it's more likely that she would become a clone with focus on stronger aerial play, if she ever were to be considered for Smash.
The possibilities are endless and Sora should have had more than enough time to polish everything, if this new game is based on an enhanced port of Smash 4.
Conclusion
Take everything from Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and those games' DLC, bring back some more veterans, add new characters and stages on top, update existing characters and franchises based on their newest games, while leaving past appearances as customization options, and done would be the biggest and most complete Smash of all times. There's no need for a do-over, it would only limit of what's possible in this sequel.
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