NEW YORK -- For the second straight day, the NHL and NHLPA met late into the night Wednesday while trying to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement.

It remains unclear exactly how much common ground was forged, although the NHLPA appears to be growing increasingly wary of the current players/owners-only meetings.

Multiple sources told ESPNNewYork.com that there is some concern among the union's membership that the format may be an attempt to divide the players and isolate the constituency from its leadership.

Additionally, one source informed ESPNNewYork.com the union notified the league that, going forward, it will not adhere to any restrictions about who is allowed in the room and believes each side should bring back whomever it wants.

At NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's suggestion last week, both he and NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr have remained on the periphery of discussions, while several players (17 to 19 over the last two days ) and six owners have driven negotiations. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr, however, were allowed to participate for each side.

The suggestion has brought forth two consecutive days of exhaustive discussions, although how much progress it has yielded remains unclear.

After Tuesday's lengthy session -- one that lasted almost 10 hours and seemed to spark hope in brokering a deal -- the two sides met for even longer on Wednesday. The meeting lasted until just before 1 a.m. ET Thursday.

In a brief statement, Daly said the league is awaiting a response from the NHLPA on Thursday.

"(We) had good, candid dialogue on a lot of issues. There continues to be some critical open issues between the two parties," Daly said. "And, we understand the union should be getting back to us on those issues."

The NHLPA plans to meet internally Thursday morning, with both sides slated to resume talks at some point afterward.