The subjective qualities of the Quinn Hughes trade will be debated in Vancouver Canucks circles for decades to come.

Objectively speaking, however, it was a four-for-one trade in terms of assets, and three of those assets from the Minnesota Wild have already made their way onto the Canucks’ roster, with Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, and Liam Öhgren all making their Vancouver debuts this past Sunday morning.

This initial addition of players did not impact the roster all that much in the immediate sense. Buium slid into Hughes’ vacated spot on the blueline. Rossi replaced Elias Pettersson, who was placed on the IR with a short-term ailment for the time being. And room was made for at least an audition for Öhgren via placing Lukas Reichel on waivers and then re-assigning him to Abbotsford. Arshdeep Bains and Aatu Räty were made scratches.

That leaves the Canucks with 14 forwards, seven defenders, and two goalies on their roster, for the maximum of 23 players. Pettersson, Teddy Blueger, Derek Forbort, and Filip Chytil are on IR.

That state of the roster could hold for a couple more games. But as far as we understand it, Pettersson’s return to the lineup is somewhat imminent. As soon as that happens, and he’s ready to come off the IR, more roster changes are needed – and they might keep coming after that.

We will start with the Pettersson-related decision. As soon as he’s ready to play again, and assuming no further injuries have happened in the interim, one of those players is going to have to be demoted to make room. And with only seven healthy D on the roster at the moment, it’ll have to be an extra forward. But who?

The easiest option, as it usually is, would be to demote one of the forwards on the roster who do not require waivers to go down to Abbotsford. At this present moment, that’s a list of just two: the newly-extended Max Sasson, and the newly-acquired Öhgren.

For many reasons, including his ability to play centre, his decent run of success this season, his speed, and that new contract, Sasson seems unlikely to be sent down at this juncture. Between the two, Öhgren probably makes the most sense, as he looked in Minnesota to be a player who needed more AHL development.

Then again, Öhgren had a decent showing in his debut on Sunday, and the team did mention wanting to get a look at him before deciding his future. Maybe that means he will stay up for the time being.

If it’s not Öhgren or Sasson, it’ll have to involve waivers, at which point we turn to the players outside of the lineup looking in. Reichel is already down in Abbotsford. Räty and Bains were made scratches on Sunday. Again, Räty’s ability to play centre and his status as the top faceoff-taker on the team all but ensure he will keep his spot for now.

Bains, on the other hand, seems in real danger of being placed on waivers in the near future. Even if the team decides to demote Sasson or Öhgren this time, the influx of players to the roster means more cuts are coming eventually.

The Canucks will, as of this writing, play four more games before the December 19 roster freeze, and then they’re done until December 27. One assumes that time off will be good for both getting and staying healthy, and so we may see some more returns closer to the New Year.

Teddy Blueger seems like the next-most-likely to return. As a pending UFA, he’s the exact sort of veteran this team is looking to trade, but they’ll probably want to get him back on the ice before considering that.

If Blueger returns and no further injuries have occurred, another forward has to come off the roster. At that point, the possibility of a player like Bains getting waived becomes all the more probable.

The same could be said on the blueline for whenever Forbort returns. To make room on the roster, one D would have to go to Abbotsford. Tom Willander has made himself immune to any further demotions and may never skate a game in the AHL ever again. Elias Pettersson the Younger has been demoted once for playing time already, but probably keeps his spot all the same. Chances seem best that Forbort’s return would spell the waiving of P-O Joseph.

But re-assignments aren’t the only roster moves that can clear space, especially not for a team in the Canucks’ position. They could make that space in their lineup by simply trading more players.

Say that long-talked-about trade of Kiefer Sherwood for a first round pick and change occurs. So long as the Canucks didn’t take back an NHL-ready asset, they’d gain a roster spot that they’d then have to fill internally. At that point, there’s no need for any further demotions.

Trade enough veterans – say the aforementioned Blueger, Evander Kane, maybe a few others that are less expected – and suddenly we’re in the opposite situation, where the Canucks need to consider who they’re recalling from Abbotsford to fill spots. At that point, maybe we’re talking about the likes of Reichel, Öhgren, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki coming back from the minors for more extended stays in Vancouver. The situation is pretty fluid at the moment.

In other words, it’s all going to come down to the timing – the timing of when certain players come back to the lineup, and the timing of when certain players are traded from it.

It seems all but certain that one roster spot will be lost to Pettersson’s return before the holiday break. Beyond that, there’s some reason for those on the fringes of the roster to worry, but overall, no major worries to be had about any roster crunch or need for major reconstruction. In many ways, this seems like an ‘issue’ that will naturally take care of itself as the Canucks progress down this rebuild-y path they’ve just recently begun treading.