You absolutely need an elite #1D to win a cup. Hedman, Keith, Pietrangelo, Doughty, Chara, Pronger... none of these guys are a vanilla AF Noah Hanifin. They're guys who were scoring 55+ pts while logging 30+ minutes and shutting down stars at the other end.
Yeah, you need a #1C too. That comes next year
Look at the Panthers, probably the most dangerous cup contender out there
#1 Defenseman - Aaron Ekblad is probably having a Norris Caliber year. First overall.
#1 Center - Sasha Barkov is looking like a Selke version of prime Evgeni Malkin. Second overall.
#1 Winger - Jonathan Huberdeau is looking like a 6'2 version of prime Patrick Kane. Third overall.
#2 Center - Sam Bennett is fitting in like a glove. Fourth overall.
That's how you build a contender.
Here are the top-four overall picks on the Calgary Flames:
Wait, Panthers are the most dangerous cup contenders out there? Not, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Colorado, but the Panthers? The same Panthers, who had all of those pieces for multiple years and weren't successful until now? Who haven't won a playoff series in a long time?
Bennett just got there (they were winning well before him, he doesn't factor into any of their success this season other then 3 game) and that norris level d-man is down and out for the rest of the year.
You could make the exact same list for the Flames in 2018-19
#1 Defenseman - Mark Giordano is having a Norris Caliber year. Undrafted
#1 Centre - Sean Monahan is a top offensive centre above ppg and is on the best line in hockey. 6th overall
#1 winger - Johnny Gaudreau is looking like a 5'9 version of prime Patrick Kane out there. Hart candidate. 4th rounder.
#1 winger - Matthew Tkachuk is looking like a premier power forward in this league. 6th overall.
#2 Centre - Mikael Backlund is a selke candidate on a strong possession line. Late 1st rounder
The blueprint you have can be re-created without top 5 picks, surprisingly.
#1 defenseman - Victor Hedman is a perennial Norris Candidate. 2nd overall
#1 centre - Brayden Point is a 3rd rounder.
#1 winger - Kucherov was taken in the 2nd round.
#2 centre - Anthony Cirelli was taken in the 3rd round.
#1 defenseman - Jaccob Slavin is a premier shutdown defensemen. 4th rounder
#1 centre - Sebastian Aho. 2nd rounder
#1 winger - Teravainen. 18th overall. (Svechnikov is not the premier guy on their line when Teravainen is healthy)
#2 centre - Trochek. 3rd rounder.
It's incredibly convenient that the team you consider the most dangerous is the same one that; has Bennett, has the top 4 picks while other teams out there are more dangerous without those same picks. Would it not make sense to look to the most recent cup champion? Or the team ahead of Florida in the standings, that is also built off of good scouting and non-top 5 picks? You're right that there is a general group of successful pieces that you see on contending teams but it's very clear you cherry picked the relevant team to fit your argument that top picks are ncessary.