McKee was drafted in the first round, 14th overall, of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres. McKee played his junior hockey with the Niagara Falls Thunder, where he was an OHL second team all-star in 1996.
McKee parlayed his solid junior career into a steady pro career,
becoming one of the Sabres top defenceman in his 9 years with the club.
McKee played in 582 regular season games with the Sabres, amassing 98
points and 470 penalty minutes. During the 2005–06 NHL season with the Buffalo Sabres he served as an alternate captain under co-captains Danny Briere and Chris Drury.
McKee was part of the Sabres' Eastern Conference Championship run in 1999 (before losing to the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Finals).
McKee was injured during the Sabres's two subsequent playoff runs. In
2001, he missed the team's final five games of the playoffs after a
vicious collision with the Pittsburgh Penguins's Mario Lemieux
during game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and in 2006 McKee
missed the deciding seventh game of the Eastern Conference Finals
against the Carolina Hurricanes
when he was sidelined with a severe infection in his leg, reportedly
caused by a cut or bruise that McKee sustained blocking a shot in an
earlier round of the playoffs. All totaled, McKee appeared in 51 playoff
games with the Sabres, recording 9 points and 60 penalty minutes.
On July 1, 2006, McKee signed with the St. Louis Blues for a four-year, $16 million contract. His first season with the Blues, in 2006–07,
was cut short due to various injuries including a knee injury, a broken
finger, and two lower body injuries. On June 30, 2009, at the
conclusion of the 2008–09 season, McKee became a free agent after he was bought out from the final year of his contract by the Blues.
On July 9, 2009, McKee signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After going unsigned through the 2010 off-season, it was announced on
October 14, 2010 that McKee would serve as a volunteer assistant coach
for Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey, while not ruling out a return to the NHL.
On August 31, 2011, McKee was hired as an assistant coach of the Rochester Americans hockey team who is affiliated with the Buffalo Sabres.
McKee left the Rochester Americans to be able to spend more time at
home with his family, and instead opted to join the Senior "AAA" Dundas Real McCoys of the Allan Cup Hockey league. In his second year in the league, McKee re-signed with the Real McCoys, expanding his role to become a player-coach.
On June 13, 2014, McKee with hired to be an assistant coach with the
Erie Otters of the
Ontario Hockey League