As for picks, if I'm the Rangers I'm not holding onto them like gold. But then I tend to side with the folks who think late 1sts are overrated. You can always get them back in later drafts after your window starts closing by selling off your older vets as rentals. I look at those late 1sts as just buying on credit, spend a '25 1st for help now, when it's time to rebuild you get that pick back as a seller a few years later. Only time to keep them as a contender is in an unusually strong draft like last year or 03.
I agree with this to a point, but at the same time, over the last dozen or so years, the Rangers have drafted guys like Kreider, JT Miller, K'Andre Miller, Brady Skjei, Filip Chytil, Braden Schneider, Othmann, and Gabriel Perrault in the back half of the first round. So from my point of view, if a team is convinced that a trade target is going to make a big difference, a late first shouldn't get in the way. At the same time, that 1st shouldn't be burning a hole in a GM's pocket. No need to spend it JUST to spend it. It can (and in the Rangers' case) often does turn into something useful.