McLean grew up in the small northern Ontario town of Kirkland Lake and played Midget AAA hockey for the New Liskeard Cubs. He also had a short stint with his hometown team Kirkland Lake Legion 87's. He attended Kirkland Lake's Collegiate and Vocational Institute. After his 1996-97 season he was undrafted by the OHL, however, moved to the Trenton Sting of the Ontario Jr.A. Hockey League where he played three seasons. His exploits in Tier II Jr. hockey earned him a spot on the Norwich University roster the following year and became the first ever 4-time 1st team all-American in D-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 2005–06 season, playing 32 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. McLean finished second on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in points, assists, and plus/minus and was tied for third the team in goals. He helped the Penguins win the Eastern Conference Championship and finished third on the team in playoff scoring with 19 points. On July 3, 2008, Kurtis signed with the New York Islanders. He was called up to the Islanders on January 19, 2009 and scored his first NHL goal, in his second NHL game, against Jean-Sebastien Giguere in a 2-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on January 21, 2009. On January 23, 2009, Kurtis was inducted into Hockey Heritage North. Town mayor Bill Enouy said of McLean, "They will never be able to take that off his resume he will always be a guy that played in the NHL". On May 29, 2009, McLean signed a contract with Finnish club Lukko of the SM-liiga. He stayed for two seasons and captained the team during the 2010-11 season. McLean then moved to Switzerland's Nationalliga A and spent two seasons with the SCL Tigers where he led the team in points both seasons. On May 22, 2013, Mclean signed for Lukko, signalling a return to Finland, but a month later he departed and instend signed a one-year contract with Metallurg Novokuznetsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. In the 2014–15 season, McLean continued to play in the KHL, 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 2015–16 season with EHC Wolfsburg of the German top flight Deutsche Eishockey Liga on February 16, 2016. On August 30, 2016, McLean would return to Austria to play for the Graz 99ers of the EBEL.
