In my opinion there is no doubt that Krutov was the second best Soviet forward during the 1980´s. Both when we look at international scoring, domestic scoring and Soviet player of the year voting. And I am sorry but I have a hard time believing that Dave Taylor who did not even manage to make the final squad of any best on best Team Canada was as good offensively as the second best forward of the Soviet Union. If that would be true it should be seen as a miracle that the Soviets ever managed to win a single game against Canada in the 80´s. Even when considering their superior chemistry. I personally think that Makarov being as far ahead of Krutov in the Soviet League as Dionne was ahead of Taylor in the NHL rather is an indication of that Makarov was a better and more consistent offensive player than Dionne was, more than it points to Krutov and Taylor being on the same level offensively.
Also considering that international tournaments were the most important part of the season for the Soviets I personally think that more focus should be put on them than on Soviet league play. And Krutov was a lot closer to Makarov on the international stage than he was domestically. Here is a small comparison of these four players international careers.
Scoring in all major international tournaments:
Sergei Makarov (11 WHCs, 3 Olympics, 3 Canada Cups)
145 gp, 82 g, 100 a, 182 pts, 1.26 PPG
Vladimir Krutov (7 WHCs, 3 Olympics, 3 Canada Cups)
112 gp, 73 g, 64 a, 137 pts, 1.22 PPG
Marcel Dionne (4 WHCs, 2 Canada Cups)
50 gp, 26 g, 17 a, 43 pts, 0.86 PPG
Dave Taylor (3 WHCs)
30 gp, 7 g, 10 a, 17 pts, 0.57 PPG
Scoring in Canada Cups only:
Sergei Makarov 22 gp, 16 g, 15 a, 31 pts, 1.41 PPG
Vladimir Krutov 22 gp, 14 g, 16 a, 30 pts, 1.36 PPG
Marcel Dionne 13 gp, 5 g, 6 a, 11 pts, 0.85 PPG
Both Makarov and Krutov were clearly more productive than Dionne and Taylor on the international stage. No matter if we look at all major international tournaments or only Canada Cups. Now I am not pretending that Krutov was as good offensively as Dionne but his massive advantage compared to Taylor internationally makes it very hard for me to believe that Taylor was on Krutovs level offensively.