Jay McKee (born September 8, 1977) is a Canadian coach of the Hamilton Hammers of the American Hockey League and former professional ice hockey defenceman. He spent the majority of his career with the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL), and has also played for the St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins. Throughout his career, he has been noted among the NHL's best shot-blockers. McKee was born in Kingston, Ontario, but grew up in Loyalist, Ontario.
After his retirement from playing, he has served as an assistant coach for the NCAA's Niagara Purple Eagles, AHL's Rochester Americans, the Ontario Hockey League's (OHL) Erie Otters and the OHL's Kitchener Rangers. After one season in Kitchener, he was promoted to head coach of the Rangers, where he served for three-and-a-half seasons. He was then named the head coach of the OHL's Hamilton Bulldogs in 2021. He remained with the Bulldogs as they relocated and became the Brantford Bulldogs until 2026. On May 29, 2026, the New York Islanders named McKee the head coach of their new AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Hammers.
McKee was drafted by the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League in the first round, tenth overall, at the 1993 OHL Priority Selection. In his rookie season with the Wolves during the 1993–94 season, McKee recorded 1 assist in 51 games while accumulating 51 penalty minutes. In three playoff games, McKee was held to no points.
He began the 1994–95 season in Sudbury, as McKee saw his offensive game develop. In 39 games with the Wolves, McKee scored 6 goals and 12 points while earning 91 penalty minutes. Midway through the season, McKee was traded to the Niagara Falls Thunder in a deal that sent Ethan Moreau and Jason Bonsignore to Sudbury.
Niagara Falls Thunder (1994–1996)
McKee concluded the 1994–95 season with the Niagara Falls Thunder. In 26 games with the Thunder, McKee scored 3 goals and 16 points. Combined with his Sudbury stats, McKee appeared in 65 games, scoring 9 goals and 28 points, a significant improvement from his rookie season. In the playoffs, McKee scored two goals and five points in six games.
McKee played the 1995–96 season with the Thunder, during which he scored 5 goals and 46 points in 64 games, the second-highest point total by a defenseman on the team, while earning 129 penalty minutes. In the playoffs, McKee had one goal and six points in ten games. Following the season, McKee was named as an OHL Second Team All-Star.
McKee was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round, 14th overall, at the 1995 NHL entry draft held at the Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton. The pick used to select McKee was acquired in the July 8, 1995 trade that sent Alexander Mogilny to the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver also received a 5th round pick (Todd Norman), while Buffalo received Michael Peca and Michael Wilson.
The Sabres assigned McKee to his junior club, the Niagara Falls Thunder, for the 1995–96 season. After the Thunder were eliminated from the playoffs, McKee appeared in four games with the Rochester Americans, the Sabres' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, during the 1995–96 season. McKee earned an assist with Rochester. McKee also made his NHL debut on April 10, 1996, and earned one assist on a goal scored by Dane Jackson, as the Sabres defeated the Ottawa Senators 5–2. This would be McKee's only NHL game during the 1995–96 season.
McKee played seven games with the Americans during the 1996–97 season, scoring two goals and seven points. He spent a majority of the 1996–97 season with Buffalo, and on November 11, 1996, McKee recorded his first career multi-point game with two assists in a 3–2 win over the Florida Panthers. On March 22, McKee earned his first career NHL goal, scoring against John Vanbiesbrouck of the Florida Panthers in a 3–2 loss. Overall, in 43 games with the Sabres, McKee scored one goal and ten points. On April 19, 1997, McKee made his NHL playoff debut in a 3–1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. McKee would eventually play in three playoff games and earned no points.
In the 1997–98 season, McKee played 13 games with Rochester, scoring a goal and eight points. McKee spent most of the season with the Sabres, scoring 1 goal and 14 points in 56 games. McKee appeared in one playoff game with Buffalo, earning no points.
For the first time in his career, McKee spent the entire season in the NHL during the 1998–99 season. In 72 games with the Sabres, McKee earned six assists while registering 75 penalty minutes, helping Buffalo reach the playoffs. On May 9, 1999, McKee earned his first playoff point, an assist on a goal scored by Dixon Ward, as the Sabres defeated the Boston Bruins 4–1. In 21 playoff games, McKee recorded three assists while leading the NHL with a +13 rating as the Sabres reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, where they were defeated by the Dallas Stars in six games.
In the 1999–2000 season, McKee played in 78 games with the Sabres, scoring a career-high 5 goals and 17 points. A late season injury limited McKee's playing time in the 2000 playoffs, appearing in only one game and getting no points.
McKee continued his solid defensive play during the 2000–01 season. In 74 games, he scored 1 goal and 11 points while setting a career-high with 76 penalty minutes. On April 14, 2001, McKee scored his first career playoff goal, as he scored the overtime winner against Roman Čechmánek of the Philadelphia Flyers in a 4–3 victory. Overall, in eight playoff games, McKee finished with the one goal. Injuries limited McKee's playing time, as he missed the final five playoff games after a collision with Mario Lemeiux of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
During the 2001–02 season, McKee played in a career high 81 games. McKee scored 2 goals and 13 points while finishing with a team-best +18 rating. However, the Sabres failed to qualify for the 2002 playoffs.
McKee battled injuries during the 2002–03 season and was limited to 59 games, in which he recorded five assists. The Sabres once again finished out of the playoffs. Injuries continued to plague McKee during the 2003–04 season and played in only 43 games, scoring two goals and five points. Buffalo missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
McKee did not playing during the 2004–05 season due to the 2004–05 NHL lock-out that cancelled the entire season.
In 2005–06, when NHL play resumed, McKee was named an alternate captain for the Sabres. He played in 75 games, tying his career high with five goals, while earning 16 points, as the Sabres reached the playoffs for the first time since 2001. In the playoffs, McKee scored two goals and five points, which set career highs, in 17 games before the Sabres lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference finals. McKee missed the seventh and final game of the Eastern Conference finals as he was sidelined with a severe infection in his leg reportedly caused by a cut or bruise sustained from blocking a shot in an earlier round of the playoffs. McKee revealed in 2020 that the infection was so severe that his leg would have been amputated had it worsened.