If you are going to use the winning of the Stanley Cup as some kind of litmus test to prove a goalie or center is more important as many have done here on both sides it isn't going to work. Teams have won with ok goalies (albeit hot at the time) and teams have won with less than dominant #1 center.
However, history shows that no position, no exceptions, has more of an impact on the fate of a team than the goalie. You can have the fire power to score 8 goals a game but if your goalie is a complete sieve and let's in 10 you still won't win. Your team (forward and dmen) may be the best in the league but the buck (and puck) stops at the goaltender. Detroit would have many more cups in the 1990's and 2000's if they had a patrick roy or even a Mike Richter. Neither the 86 Habs and even less so the 1993 Habs had any business winning the cup from a team point of view but a hot goalie makes a huge difference. Not even Wayne Gretzky could influence the overall fate of a team like a great goalie can. Many cup worthy teams have failed because their goaltending was not good enough. Many non cup worthy teams have won or come close because their goaltending was great.
Underestimate the importance of a goalie and you'll end up being the Flyers...
Having said all that Price has not proven at the NHL level that he is a Brodeur or a Roy but he has at every other level on the way. What has Galchenyuk proven? I hope that both of them prove they are franchise players and I hope Subban becomes half of what Markov has been. Despite how important I believe goaltending is I would have taken Markov in his prime were the scenario different. He is a game changer and greatly underrated by the league in general and many Hab fans because he is not flashy and the difference he makes is subtle. I'm not talking about his 4 goal outburst to start the year either. I'm talking about the stablizing effect he has, the huge PP effect he has. How he can take any D partner you give him and make them play way beyond what they'd be without him. He is a franchise player and had he been healthy the last three years we'd have never missed the playoffs and who knows what might have happened... But he did get hurt and we did finish last and thanks to it we have a better GM and a better coach, and better prospects and a brighter future. My dream is that now it can all come together in the next 3 seasons so that Markov can get what he deserves, a cup as a Hab, to retire as a Hab, and go down as the greatest Hab in the modern era after Roy (for those who are paying attention anyway...)