I don't really understand the sheltering argument with Noesen. Yeah, Noesen faced weaker opposition than most 'Canes forwards, but he also dominated those minutes - he has the highest xGF% among forwards on that team over the last two seasons.
I also do not believe that there weren't other teams interested in Noesen. There is so much cap space available right now. There are teams who just plain missed on a lot of the stuff they might've wanted to do. The 3rd year is quite bad, I agree, but that's usually the cost of doing business. I'd rather have Noesen for this season than try to find a cheaper version of him.
Also I don't believe that Noesen is destined to be a 3rd or 4th line player, at least not this season. He could see significant time with Hughes.