Look ... there's nothing in the macro-economy of the game that would warrant either a strike or a lockout. In the big picture, both the players and the owners are at least as well off as they were one year into the new agreement. Yes, I feel like the Cap has increased more than the owners anticipated, but that's due to the underlying revenues that go into the equation. The players didn't get a great deal in the last CBA in a lot of respects, but the league is bigger which means more opportunities for contracts ... and in general, salaries are trending up. I think there's a LOT of room to negotiate on issues such as Olympics, World Cups, player safety, etc ... but enough to strike or lockout? Not even close.
Now, should one party or the other decide to press the issue, you all know how labor negotiations in the NHL can go from 0 to 60 in about a millisecond, so never bet on sanity. But I simply don't see a reason for a stoppage that even Bettman or Bill Daley could try to sell to the public with a straight face. Honestly, the one looming issue is the inevitable shrinkage of TV revenues. We're already in sight of the rollback of regional cable networks, which are a big source of local club revenue. Radio is more or less done producing significant revenues on a local level as well. And if the owners know something they haven't shared about the next iteration of the two big league TV deals ... THEN we're going to see some fireworks. Retrenching is never fun, and never easy.