 As a youth, McClelland played in the 1975 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Oshawa.McClelland was drafted in the fourth round, 71st overall, by the Hartford Whalers during the 1980 NHL Entry Draft.The majority of his NHL career was served playing center ice with the Edmonton Oilers (1984–1989), with whom he won four Stanley Cups 1984-85-87-88.