The tradeNew York Rangers get: Marcus PetterssonVancouver Canucks get: 2030 first-round pick (top-10 protected)In a vacuum, the idea of a win-now team trading a first-round pick that’s way into the future for a sturdy but unspectacular No. 3/4 defenseman sounds perfectly reasonable. Pettersson, who has a long history with Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan, will likely bounce back from a tough year in Vancouver and be a rock-solid second-pair defenseman.However, the bigger concern from the Rangers’ perspective has to be what the team is actually building toward with these win-now moves. New York has the sixth-worst record in the NHL over the last two years. This team looked old, slow and not even remotely close to being in a realistic contention window this past season. Is adding Pettersson, Sean Durzi (as part of the Vincent Trocheck trade), Pavel Dorofeyev and Oliver Bjorkstrand, coupled with a healthier Adam Fox, enough to propel the team back to the playoffs? It’s possible because the Metro Division looks weak. However, it’s naive to think this team can actually win in the playoffs, especially considering the age-related risk involved with Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller as the team’s top two centers.There isn’t a realistic path for the Rangers to become Cup contenders in the next few years — it just feels like they’ve locked themselves into being a “mid” team. There’s a real chance that New York’s attempt to stay relevant blows up in its face before 2030, especially with Adam Fox being eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2029. And if that scenario unfolds, that 2030 first-round pick could suddenly become a whole lot more valuable. Yes, it’s top-10 protected, but then it would presumably roll over as an unprotected 2031 first-rounder, and when you look at how old and uninspiring their core could be by then, that could become an extremely valuable pick for the Canucks. But that risk probably doesn’t matter to GM Chris Drury, who won’t be around anyway if his aggressive retool fails to work.