Krug was certainly not impressive defensively in the playoffs, but a certain amount of that had to do with Carlo being out. That had a big impact on the overall defense. Also, it cannot be overlooked that McAvoy struggled in his own zone more than I thought he would, and Chara by the end of the playoffs looked cooked. In other words, Krug was not the only defensive player struggling in his own zone. I look at Krug as being a very similar player as Carlson, but better. Their numbers this season were eerily similar. Krug gets a bit of an edge defensively, and he is also better at moving the puck. Carlson has looked better defensively this playoffs than he actually is simply due to those players around him performing better than usual. Anyone who has watched this guy consistently knows that he is prone to fairly frequent defensive lapses, and can be a real fumbler in the Ozone, but on the whole he is a solid asset offensively. He has had a very nice playoffs this season, and is a pretty good playoff player. But so is Krug, on the whole. 12 points in 11 playoff games and a 9.1% shot pct for Krug this playoffs was very important offensively.
Players such as Carlson and Krug have their warts, but those warts are severely diminished when you look at what they bring to the table offensively. It's just a matter of building the pairings in an effective manner and hoping the team doesn't become decimated with injuries that screw up the pairings. It'll be interesting to see what kind of deal Carlson gets this summer. I suspect he is going to get paid a lot. He is a year older than Krug and not as talented in any of the zones. If the Bs do decide to trade Krug they better be getting a damn good return and be able to fill the hole that will be left offensively (McAvoy and Gryz I love, but neither player has shown they can replace Krug offensively). Some of the fans and folks in the media have come to take Krug way too much for granted.