It's not. Most of the people I grew up with (I'm 28) hardly care anymore and sometimes I don't either. I love the sport but the league is so lame and has been for a minute. Mostly older family members I have stopped watching 10+ years ago and the current game does not pull them back in at all. Hockey is losing their own internal fanbase and not generating nearly enough new fans. Since the 90s they've gone ass backwards.. They massively screwed up around the mid 90s and along the way have had some good ideas but generally have failed, much like MLB. It's a great sport but the brass sucks. Bettman sucks tbh. He creates markets and expanded the league but I don't think that's necessarily a good thing. There's no dneying markets like San Jose and Nashville were more successful than people thought but every league expands... It's a guaranteed revenue stream unless you do something stupid like put a team in Arizona. People using expansion plan as a cap on Bettman being a great commish is so stupid. The NHL had planned this regardless of who was in charge. All leagues do. Bettman tookover when hockey was red hot and even bball fans and non traditionally hockey fans knew who the hell Mario, Jagr and Messier were. Hockey was never the most popular but people were aware of it and tuned in for stuff like Wings-Avs, etc. It was niche. Now it's like WWE, where it has an audience but the casuals see it on tv and instantly change the channel. It's not the players fault, there is just little buzz and not many storylines. The league hasn't created any besides Sid vs Ovie and Sid didn't want to sell it or himself.
In terms of marketing and having smart, creative people running your league, the NHL is boring and plain. They don't have the right people in place to take the league to new heights. The NFL, MMA, and NBA said f this we're going to market and it worked. They are innovators. MLB, Boxing and the NHL are stuck in the mud. They refuse to adapt to the viewer and have alienated their loyal fans constantly messing with the rules. People don't understand the ramifications until it's too late. Kids today in Halifax are wearing NBA jerseys. The changes I've seen in just the last 5-10 years is shocking. I'm not saying this to panic or exaggerate, people legit don't care about hockey anymore. This forum is the only forum I am on that has hockey discussions. I post on a football based community, derived from the espn message boards and every year there is less general interest in hockey, baseball and boxing. There's a reason. If you can't sell someone your story, if you have no story why should anyone care? The biggest boxing fights right now are a result from clown youtubers lol. Baseball is only in the headlines for the wrong reasons like the Astros or cheating. Hockey, usually it has to due with fighting or something. I think the NHL needs to desperately bring in creative people who are passionate about hockey and it will reflect in the product. IMO they have passionless people who are complicate running the league. They have been there 30 years and have no reason to try. As long as they make revenue they are safe. It might sound crazy but it's human nature to get lazy and not try when you have no motivation. NHL owners are costing themselves millions by not forcing the leagues hand. Silver/Goodell are making franchise owners quadruple their investments within a decade. It's why the highest paid MLB player ever is trying to buy the worst NBA team of the last decade. And the young kids on Minnesota don't even know who A-Rod is lmao. He only just retired and was with J-Lo. That should tell you everything.
