I think that if the best Euro players played hockey in Europe, the crowds would probably increase. There might be more NYR fans in Czek Republica then local teams fan...
The main way to acheive this would be by reducing the NHL down to 20 teams. Then, we would have about 200 athletes who would be forced to play hockey elsewhere. Many Europeans players would probably stay home because the level of the game would increase dramatically. Imagine 50 of the NHLers going to boost 5 teams in Russia, 50 in Sweden, 50 in Finland and 50 in Slavakia. We would have good hockey in 4 leagues PLUS the NHL in North America.