Vegas and Seatle advanced to the next round of the playoffs? If they win the upcoming round, they'll be the two youngest teams in the Western Conference final. Knowing this, how would that impact the NHL overall?

um....don't count those chickens before they hatch, especially this year. By no means is any team guaranteed or even a favorite, excepting maybe Carolina and of course, Edmonton, especially now that the deck has mostly been cleared. Vegas is dangerously close to being out of it. We'll see if they have a chance after Game 2. Seattle has magic this year, but that often tends to run into a brick wall, and then they have to start playing. Dallas ain't no slouch.

Increase markets that want an expansion team and greedy owners who want more expansion fee payouts.
I think once they've evened out to 32 now, they should hold up. But if they are even remotely considering it, they need at least 4 markets to be ready for it--and probably at least one of the 4 in Canada.