This is a slightly dated article from the Athletic that breaks down key needs for a championship team.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/207...-of-champions/
It strongly shows that having a top centre, and in fact a strong 1-2 punch down the middle is needed.
But what's interesting is that it also shows you don't NEED to rely on high first round picks to get it.
"Depth down the middle is crucial to building a Cup contender, but on average 86 percent of the value is confined to the top two centres. The past 10 Cup winners have been built off strong duos (O’Reilly/Schenn, Backstrom/Kuznetsov, Crosby/Malkin, Kopitar/Carter, Krejci/Bergeron)."
So of that group you have the following:
- O'Reilly/Schenn both acquired via trade
- Backstrom #4 pick, Kuz #26
- Crosby/Malkin obviously very high picks
- Kopitar #11, Carter trade
- Bergeron/Krejci both 2nd rounders
So since then you have
- Tampa: Point (3rd rounder) + Stamkos (#1 overall)
- Vegas: Eichel (trade) + Stephenson (trade)
- Colorado: Mackinnin (#1 overall) + Kadri (trade)
- Florida: Barkov (#2 overall) + Sam (trade)
The point is you certainly need great centres, but it's shown that there are other ways of getting them other than drafting #1 or #2 overall.