he made his nhl debut in ottawa in 1995–96, scoring 14 points in 75 games. the senators traded mccleary, along with a draft pick to the boston bruins for shawn mceachern following the season. he appeared in 59 games with the bruins but was unable to come to an agreement on a new contract for the 1997–98 season. as a result, he signed to play in the international hockey league (ihl), splitting the season between the las vegas thunder and detroit vipers.