I am in university and I have an exam for microeconomics too, but not until the 18th. Good luck.
It's absolutely easier to make a forward for your first player in the league, I agree. I was a RW and even one of the players in my first gen class that found success at defense was a winger first.
Regarding fighting, I think you have it opposite. It doesn't increase fighting skill, it increases frequency. So you just get into more fights I'm pretty sure.
I agree, players mostly don't want to be a defenseman because their stats aren't as flashy. (Unless you're Biggie Cheese/the best player on your team). Defensive players only get points if they're the star. Absolutely agree that forwards have more name recognition, you only become a household name as a d man if you're an extremely good offensive defenseman. Most fans don't care too much about defense.
I think Miami's biggest problem right now is that you only have 3 defense. That means a bot defenseman has to play quite a large portion of the game. Your team is also quite top heavy. Outside the stars, most players have lower TPE.
I agree about the VHLE. I've started to care about it a bit more lately just because my player is doing quite well, but generally it's pretty inactive. Your opinion on it also might be more of a popular opinion than you think.
Next season in Riga should be fun. Damn right one of us will win roty. 9/10