Something tells me nothing will ever work. Small market fans complain about the fact that they lose their best players under the current(well, not current really) system. Big market fans complain about the fact that they can't get the best players under the new(well, not new yet) system. The players can't accept being capped at only making millions/hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. The owners can't trust one another because there will always be that one owner that screws everything up, and creates the absolute mess that the NHL finds itself in today.
I have a plan. Let's get all the players together before the season starts. You group the forwards together, the defensemen together, and the goalies together. You throw their sticks in the middle of the rink, blindfold someone to pick the sticks out, and toss them on either side. You get 30 piles of sticks, and whoever is on the team is on the team. Then you do it all over again next year. Luck of the draw. Sidney Crosby comes along, chuck his stick in the pile too.
I remember when sports were a game. Only it was when I was 8, and some friends and I would play. Now it's just as big a headache as anything else on this planet.
Billion dollar business, and neither side can figure out how to make everyone happy. Good job!