I feel PHB2 set some rather good precedents for melee.

lv8 - melee weapon mastery (possibly replacement for weapon spec tree)
Lv12 - robilar's gambit, armour mastery, bounding assault
Lv18 - weapon supremacy, rapid blitz

Spring attack is not a bad feat, but its requirements could be less steep, IMO.

I am a little divided over feats such as weapon finesse and steadfast determination. They are good, but everyone with a much better dex or con score respectively will surely take them, making them feat sinks. IMO, there shouldn't be a feat which you feel your class absolutely has to take in order to function properly. However, they can help reduce MAD. Or perhaps that should be a feature already inbuilt into the stat system?

Complete warrior's weapon style feats, though the prereqs are quite harsh.

It is interesting to note that if everyone takes improved initiative (including monsters), that is as good as no one taking it at all. Another feat sink?