from Stu Hackel of the Red Light.

They won’t be talking this weekend, but in the aftermath of the CBA train wreck this past week, the NHL and the NHLPA now have to go about the business of picking up debris and trying to reassemble it into, well, something.

Right now, this mess isn’t going anywhere and with all the ill will, it’s anybody’s guess at the moment what that something will be, what shape it might eventually take. Red Light habitually shies away from making predictions — a good practice, especially when it comes to these talks, as the most recent events remind us.

Taking into account the herky-jerky character the negotiations have assumed, it’s best to keep our expectations low. That said, here are a few possible plot lines for what might lie ahead.

Scenario 1: After a brief cooling off period, the owners and players will get back to the table and try to hammer out a deal. Gary Bettman’s fuming retort aside, Don Fehr was not wrong to say that the sides are closer to a deal now than ever after this week’s negotiations — if the owners restore what they swiped off the table on Thursday evening.

continue for five more scenarios...