Background
McLean grew up in the small northern Ontario town of Kirkland Lake and played Midget American Automobile Association hockey for the New Liskeard Cubs.
McLean grew up in the small northern Ontario town of Kirkland Lake and played Midget American Automobile Association hockey for the New Liskeard Cubs.
He attended Kirkland Lake"s local high school and was often referred to as "The Zack Morris" of KLCVI.
He currently plays for the Vienna Capitals of the Austrian Hockey League (EBEL). He also had a short stint with his hometown team Kirkland Lake Legion 87"son After his 1996-1997 season he was undrafted by the OHL, however, moved to the Trenton Sting of the Ontario Junior.A. Hockey League where he played three seasons.
His exploits in Tier II Junior. hockey earned him a spot on the Norwich University (National Collegiate Athletic Association-III) roster the following year and became the first ever 4-time 1st team all-American in Doctorate-III history.
McLean was signed as an undrafted free-agent by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005 after playing four seasons at Norwich University. He was called up from the Wheeling Nailers during the 2005-2006 season, playing 32 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
McLean finished second on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in points (54), assists (32), and plus/minus (+14) and was tied for third the team in goals (22). On July 3, 2008, Kurtis signed with the New York Islanders.
On January 23, 2009, Kurtis was inducted into Hockey Heritage North.
Town mayor Bill Enouy had this to say about Kurtis. "They will never be able to take that off his resume (no matter what happens in the future) he will always be a guy that played in the National Hockey League". On May 29, 2009, McLean signed a contract with Finnish club Lukko of the Master of Science-liiga.
In the 2014-2015 season, McLean continued to play in the Kontinental Hockey League, splitting the year between Finnish club, Jokerit, and Croatian club, KHL Medveščak Zagreb.
As a free agent on July 31, 2015, McLean ventured to the Austrian Hockey League, agreeing to a one-year contract with the Vienna Capitals of the EBEL. He left the Capitals during the season and signed a contract for the remainder of the 2015-2016 season with EHC Wolfsburg of the German top flight Deutsche Eishockey Liga on February 16, 2016.