While it feels like weeks ago, Renaud Lavoie noted two days ago that the NHL and NHLPA would need to get their act together within the week in order to achieve a mid-January start date. Two weeks ago, Katya said the same thing about a January 1st start date, by the way.
Another day of talks between the NHLPA and the NHL and you can expect more in the next few days. Goal is to have a season starting around January 15. For that to happen, a deal needs to be done in the next week.