As a hometown Wild fan, I am ecstatic that Marian Gaborik and the boys have their first playoff appearance within reach. Do you think the team will get an impact player to help out, or should we just be happy getting to the playoffs after just two seasons? -- Chris Pauly, Chaska, Minn.

Melrose: Minnesota has done a great job building a team and developing young players like Gaborik, and it should be overjoyed to be in the playoffs so soon. There is still some work to be done in the regular season, but the Wild got a huge win Thursday against Montreal.

But I don't think Minnesota will be a big player at the trade deadline. They have the lowest payroll in the league and you won't see them in the running for a guy like Owen Nolan, but any team has a chance to pull off an upset once the playoffs start.

	Theo Fleury hasn't had much to celebrate lately.

Also, what is your take on Theo Fleury? Since the Blackhawks are rumored to be looking to deal him, has he sabotaged his career with his off-ice "activities"?

Melrose:Fleury he is undoubtedly damaging what is left of his career with his off-ice issues. He has a problem that he is having a hard time dealing with, and a guy who was once an elite player now has nine goals and was a healthy scratch in the last two games on a team that is not going to make the playoffs. And I don't know that any team is going to risk upsetting its dressing room by bringing in Theo and his problems.

I just saw Bryan Marchment's knee-to-knee hit on Mats Lindgren, and seeing as Marchment has a history of this kind of hit, will the league do anything? What do other players think of Marchment and his style of play? -- Chris Brock, Dallas, Texas

Melrose: Marchment has been in this situation before, and if a guy commits the same infraction over and over again he will obviously be treated more harshly each time. The league will definitely take that into consideration and if it deems this most recent hit was intentional he will be dealt with severely.

Marchment is a guy teammates love and opponents love to hate. He plays hard and sticks up for his teammates, and the guys that play with him really like him. The guys on the receiving end of those hits don't like him and neither do their teammates, but that is one of the main reasons Bryan has been mentioned in so many trade discussions lately. He has and edge to him, you know when he is on the ice and that is something a lot of teams would love to have.

Barry, what's your thoughts on the Senators picking up Vaclav Varada, and do you think this is a start of a huge fire sale in Buffalo? -- John Olszowka, Farmington, Maine

Melrose: Yeah, this is probably the start of some house cleaning in Buffalo. I think you will see older, higher-priced players like Alexei Zhitnik and Chris Gratton traded away before the deadline, and I would be very surprised if many high salaries are left in Buffalo next season.

Varada was good pickup for Ottawa, though. He is basically another Claude Lemieux, a guy who can change the personality and emotion of a game all by himself.

Do you think Todd Bertuzzi is being treated unfairly by opposing teams and ignored by officials due to his size and style of play? -- Peter, British Columbia

Melrose: Players may look like they are getting away with a little more against Bertuzzi, but only because his size and strength make him so hard to move and knock down. Some of the things players do to him would kill a smaller guy, but Todd is just such a horse that he can withstand more punishment. Crosschecks and bumps don't faze him, which is obvious since he is having such a great year. Guys aren't getting away with anything against him, they just have to work harder to defend him.

Mike Modano is the best player on the best team (Dallas) in the league right now. Does he have a realistic chance to win the MVP award? -- Joe G., Arlington, Texas

Melrose: Modano does have a shot, being among the league leaders in scoring and plus/minus, but the Stars would still be a good team if they didn't have him. The same might not be said if Pittsburgh lost Mario Lemieux or Toronto lost Ed Belfour, and that is how I judge who should be the MVP. The Penguins might be the worst team in the league if Mario were removed from the roster.

Do you feel a blockbuster deal for one player could be enough for the Avalanche seriously contend for the against the likes of the Canucks and Stars in the West, and if so what kind of player that be? -- Bill Gosser, Sandusky, Ohio

Melrose: Well, I think Colorado is as good as any team in West and can contend with Dallas and Vancouver right now. The Avs are getting healthy, Patrick Roy is looking good and Alex Tanguay and the rest of the youngsters are playing well, so Colorado doesn't need a blockbuster deal. It may go after a forward who can score a little or another gritty player up front, but the Avalanche could come out of the West right now with they way it is playing.

Do you see St. Louis getting a goaltender before the trade deadline? -- Justin, Chesterfield, Mo.

Melrose: The Blues will definitely go hard after a goalie at the deadline and I would be surprised if Sean Burke or Arturs Irbe is not in the St. Louis net before the end of the year. The Blues have a problem there and they know it. The goal is to win the Stanley Cup now, and with their core players getting older they know their window isn't that large.

In regards to the recent actions of college basketball player Toni Smith, do you think the athletic forum is a valid place for political stances? What would happen if somebody in the NHL did the same thing she is doing? -- Rocky, Blacksburg, Va.

Melrose: I have no problem with Toni Smith protesting as long as she realizes that a lot of Americans died to give her that right. If she knows that, then as far as I'm concerned she can voice her opinion however and wherever she likes. That's why America is the greatest country in the world and that's why everyone wants to come here.

But something like this would never happen in hockey because the protester would have to face a lot of other angry players before the anthem even ended.

Barry Melrose, a former NHL defenseman and coach, is a hockey analyst for ESPN.