One factor that might open the flood gates for the NHL from a viewership perspective is that pretty much since the dawn of time they were petrified of featuring a team from anywhere other than Chicago, New York, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Montreal or Toronto in a national broadcast because they were too conservative. They would rather bank on the guaranteed ratings inherent with a large local broadcast market than draw viewers by actually promoting the product with the best players and the best matchups.
The Oilers - Panthers Final is dreadful on paper for the NHL. One Canadian team that is the second smallest market in the league, and a sunbelt team with essentially zero local fanbase and zero fans outside the market. Despite this, the Final drew the highest ratings in a long time (maybe even a decade?) North America wide. Then all of a sudden the Oilers are playing in 17 nationally broadcasted games in the United States when they might have had 1-3 before.
If the NHL and their broadcast partners actually tailor their product towards the best game, the best players, and the best matchup, and get away from defaulting to showcasing teams in the biggest markets exclusively then ratings will shoot up, and $$ will follow. As the Oilers and Flames were locked in one of the best rivalries of the past decade, American viewers were treated to repeated matchups of a shit Blackhawks team against a shit Flyers team and then wondering why nobody watches.