On July 1st 2017, the Panthers went out and signed scrapper Michael Haley to a two-year, $1.65M deal. The idea behind this was to replace Thornton with a younger and quicker version of himself. Micheal would ideally fall under this category, being more or less like Shawn Thornton (playing style).
Last season with the San Jose Sharks, Haley recorded 2G, 10A and 12 points in 58 games played. Last season’s production would mark a career high for the 31-year-old, as he would surpass his record high of three points dating back to the 2010-11 season with the New York Islanders.