Well I like Ekholm a lot, but I guess I'd have to have a chat with him about his next-contract expectations first. He'll be 32 when his deal is up. The way he has played for us to date, I think he's overall better than Ellis. So what does he want as his next contract? 6 years * $7M? He has played a number of years for us on a "bargain" contract already. Does he feel he's ready to Get Paid?
At this point, I really don't know. So I'd have to talk to him. I'd have to also see what the market might bear in a trade for him or Ellis. Ellis is doing fine right now, but I still don't like his contract for when he turns 35, 36 years old.
And Fabbro is looking good, young, cost-controlled still for a while. But if his ultimate upside turned out to be more of a decent in-between #4 guy, that's not something that would be too devastating to lose either. I don't know if just 1 more season will be enough to confidently cap his projected upside, though.
Anyway, more data to collect. Just have to go ahead and roll the season and see what it shows, see if anything changes up.
If you do trade one of them to "Avoid Losing Them in Expansion", well, you lose them but you also lose somebody else instead of them too. There are still too many variables for me to rule anything out.