SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Tampa Bay Lightning have reassigned forward Cooper Flinton from the Syracuse Crunch to the Orlando Solar Bears, Crunch General Manager and Head Coach Joel Bouchard announced today. Additionally, the Crunch have loaned forward Shawn Element to the Solar Bears.
 
Flinton, 23, has played in five games with the Crunch this season. Last season, the 6-foot-2, 212-pound forward appeared in 50 games with the Crunch, tallying five goals and one assist, and eight contests with the Solar Bears. Flinton has played in 59 career AHL games since 2024, all with the Crunch, earning six goals and one assist.
 
Prior to his professional career, the Auburn, New Hampshire, native appeared in 89 career games with Dartmouth College, logging 32 goals and 64 points.
 
Flinton was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the seventh round, 211th overall, at the 2021 NHL Draft.
 
Element, 26, has skated in two games with the Crunch this season. He played in 31 games with the Milwaukee Admirals last season tallying five goals and one assist. He also appeared in five games with the Providence Bruins and eight games with the Maine Mariners of the ECHL recording one goal and four assists.
 
The 6-foot-1, 210-pound forward has played in 246 career AHL games with Syracuse, Milwaukee, Providence and Ontario earning 61 points (34g, 27a) to go along with 301 penalty minutes. Element has also skated in 23 career ECHL games with Maine and Orlando totaling 14 points (5g, 9a).
 
Prior to his professional career, the Victoriaville, Quebec native played in 274 career QMJHL contests with the Victoriaville Tigres, Cape Breton Eagles, Acadie-Bathurst Titan and Baie-Comeau Drakkar from 2016 to 2021 tallying 170 points (89g, 81a).
 
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 located inside the Upstate Medical University Arena at Onondaga County War Memorial at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, by calling the office at 315-473-4444 or online through Ticketmaster. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), X (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch).