The Tampa Bay Lightning have moved forward Cooper Flinton from the Syracuse Crunch to the Orlando Solar Bears, while the Crunch also loaned forward Shawn Element to Orlando, according to a team announcement from General Manager and Head Coach Joel Bouchard.
Flinton, 23, has appeared in five games for Syracuse this season. The 6-foot-2, 212-pound forward was a regular in the Crunch lineup last year, skating in 50 games and producing five goals and one assist.
He also saw action in eight games with the Solar Bears. In his AHL career, Flinton has played 59 games since 2024, all with Syracuse, and has collected six goals and one assist.
Before turning pro, the Auburn, New Hampshire, native spent four seasons at Dartmouth College, where he played 89 games and posted 32 goals and 64 points. Tampa Bay selected him in the seventh round, 211th overall, in the 2021 NHL Draft.
Element, 26, has played two games for the Crunch this season. Last year, he split time between the Milwaukee Admirals, Providence Bruins and Maine Mariners, finishing with five goals and one assist in 31 games with Milwaukee, plus one goal and four assists across five games with Providence and eight with Maine.
The 6-foot-1, 210-pound forward has built a long AHL resume, logging 246 games with Syracuse, Milwaukee, Providence and Ontario. He has 61 points, with 34 goals and 27 assists, and 301 penalty minutes. In the ECHL, he has played 23 games for Maine and Orlando and totaled 14 points on five goals and nine assists.
Element’s junior career included 274 QMJHL games from 2016 to 2021 with the Victoriaville Tigres, Cape Breton Eagles, Acadie-Bathurst Titan and Baie-Comeau Drakkar. He finished that stretch with 170 points, scoring 89 goals and adding 81 assists.
Single game tickets and ticket packages for the 2026-27 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office inside the Upstate Medical University Arena at Onondaga County War Memorial at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, by phone at 315-473-4444 or online through Ticketmaster.
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