I think it would be best that, if the SHL were picked up by a network, we adopted the burgeoning "Fan Controlled Football" model. The fans, which are clearly by the looks of the Twitch and YouTube chat during sims much better at managing games than the GMs are, would be able to immediately call out strategies the players would use in real time. At the result of a straw poll with each shift (yes, causing a brief pause in the action, but that's fine for the fans), the strategy, roles, and gameplan for the next 30 seconds to a minute would change.

Another thing that would be useful would be substituting the puck with an object of the losing team's choice should they be losing by 4 or more goals. This would make practice for players on bad teams more interesting, as they can become adept with some sort of object that is unbeknownst to the opposing team. You could substitute something puck-like, such as a tennis ball, or a basketball. Of course if you substitute the ball from another sport in there, it makes sense that all of those rules come with the ball - so dribbling across the ice and using one's stick as a weapon would not only be in play, but very much encouraged.