I've had a bunch of ideas that have been running through my head after the signings of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter of how the Wild can get over the hump and not just be a playoff contending team, but a Cup contending team. Since we've been discussing possible trade pieces in other posts, I thought I'd create this one to consolidate all the ideas that people come up with and have a forum where we could discuss them. Join me won't you?

Many people here have discussed the plausibility of trading Cal Clutterbuck. It is not because he doesn't fit what this team is trying to accomplish. The simple fact of the matter is that his trade value right now is high. He provides high energy, is a great forechecker, provides a ridiculous amount of hits and can provide some secondary scoring to boot. He also has a very low cap hit of $1.4 million and will still be a RFA after the upcoming season is over. Couple that with the fact that we have a player who seems to play the exact same game in Brett Bulmer, and it's no wonder that he has come up in the rumor mill.

My idea would be to include Cal in a trade with most likely another player and/or draft pick to acquire a veteran defenseman who has an expiring contract. My reasoning for this is the reason for my previous post about Shea Weber. If the Wild have one less contract to worry about then I see them pulling out all the stops to try and sign Weber, should he become a free agent. If Weber signs long term then this becomes a moot point, but for now, I'm still going to dream.

Anyways, there are several players who could step in and firm up the blue line for a deep playoff push, but there were a few specific targets who I wouldn't mind seeing on the Wild roster. Ron Hainsey, Tobias Enstrom, Jordan Leopold and Roman Hamrlik all stood out to me as veteran guys who could help and all would be UFA's after this season is over. But I'm not committed to any one player right now. I just think the area where this team can still improve is at defense.

So that's my take. What ideas do you have? What do you think it will take to get the Wild into the Finals this season?