Nathan MacKinnon’s Viral Flipper Swimming Clip Explained by Eric Johnson: “He’s a Complete Lunatic in the Best Way”

The Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon swimming in a hotel pool amid the Stanley Cup playoffs with full-fledged swim gear as if he was scuba diving was one of the wildest things that happened this playoff time. The 2026 Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy awardee’s silly moment went viral, with people online commenting their thoughts and making memes.

In a recent appearance on ‘NHL on ESPN’, a former teammate of MacKinnon, Erik Johnson shed more light on the Avs center’s behavior. He expressed that while the general public is unaware, the Colorado Avalanche men have been doing this for more than three years now. Johnson even admitted that he also swam, though, as opposed to MacKinnon who wore shorts, he used to have a speedo for a “little extra glow.”

He explained that swimming has to do with “the pressure. If you get low enough, it clears the lactic acid out of your legs before a flight.” Johnson, who was part of the Stanley Cup winning team of 2022, shared one of the anecdotes from his time playing with MacKinnon.

On off days on um Nate would miss some practices and he’d go with his physiotherapist there and they would just go swim. This guy’s a complete lunatic in a good way. It’s about finding an edge to stay on top of his game. It’s unreal.

Eric Johnson told Pat McAfee on a recent episode of ‘NHL on ESPN.’

Pat McAfee agreed with Johnson’s take and compared MacKinnon’s mindset to NFL legend Tom Brady‘s approach that helped him win seven rings.

I have read a couple of the articles about him being a lunatic, and people being like, ‘Hey, a little bit too much of a lunatic.’ But in our sport, we have Tom Brady, who I think people would say in a similar way is a lunatic.

McAfee said

"Nathan MacKinnon is a complete lunatic in a good way..

The whole team has been doing this swimming for a few years now..

They do it to clear the lactic acid out of their legs"@6ErikJohnson #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/bBOGQtVL4h

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 13, 2026

Nathan MacKinnon has been killing it this playoff season

The Colorado Avalanche has been on a roll this season, advancing to the Western Conference Final after defeating the Minnesota Wild in five games. The Avalanche will play the winner of the series between Utah Mammoth and Vegas Golden Knights.

Nathan MacKinnon has been sensational in the playoffs so far, scoring seven goals and assisting six times in just nine games. He’s the leader for the Avs in both goals and points. Martin Necas has scored the most assists with ten assists. MacKinnon surpassed Sidney Crosby‘s record (6) for most goals in a single postseason by the highest goal scorer of that season.

In 2022, MacKinnon scored 13 goals in a single postseason, the third-best by any Avalanche player in a single postseason. He has also finished with nine and eights goals on two different occasions.

The Canadian has scored at least once in the last six games, starting with Game 4 against the Los Angeles Kings in the playoffs’ first round. It was also his best performance, with two goals and an assist. He’s currently fourth behind Reggie Leach (10), Mario Lemieux (7), Jean Beliveau (7) in the list of the longest goal streaks in postseason by the regular season’s goal leader .

While the Avs have been the dominating side against the Wild with two high-scoring wins to start the series, they had a setback in Game 3. In Game 5, with minutes left in the third period, MacKinnon tied the game with a blinding goal, flying the puck past Jesper Wallstedt into the net.

He also surpassed teammate Necas (Game 1 of R2) for most 20mph+ bursts in a single postseason game this year with fourteen of those in the final game against the Wild.

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