Kyle McLaren Kyle Edgar McLaren ( born June 18 , 1977 ) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman . Playing career . McLaren was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the first round , ninth - overall , during the 1995 NHL Entry Draft . He played his first NHL season when he was just eighteen in the 1995 – 96 season , and was the youngest player on an NHL roster that year . After a few years in Boston , McLaren got into a dispute with the Bruins ' management . Reportedly , they offered McLaren a two - way contract , meaning that McLaren could be made to report to the minor league affiliate of the Bruins , the Providence Bruins of the AHL , where he would earn but a small fraction of his NHL salary . An established NHL player at that point , McLaren was insulted and demanded a trade . In a three way deal , San Jose traded their 1999 first - round pick Jeff Jillson and goaltender Jeff Hackett , previously acquired from Montreal for Niklas Sundstrom and a third - round pick , to Boston for McLaren and a fourth - round selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft . In recent years , McLaren has developed a reputation for having one of the best hip checks in the league . His most notable hip check was in the first round of the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs when he pinned St . Louis Blues winger Petr Cajanek into the boards near the Sharks ' blue line . Cajanek would not play for the remainder of the series . Other memorable hip check recipients include Petr Prucha and Trevor Letowski . During the 2003 season he was struck in the face by a slapshot from Vancouver ’ s Sami Salo and missed 6 games due to his injury . For the remainder of the season he played with a clear visor . He stopped wearing a visor until partway through his 2005 season , when he returned with a yellow tinted visor because its color helped prevent glare of the ice from affecting him . McLaren switched back to a clear one during the 2007 – 08 season , reportedly because his lucky visor was not helping change his ineffectiveness during San Jose playoff runs . In 2006 , McLaren signed a three - year contract worth US $ 7 . 5 million ; the deal expired in June 2009 . McLaren signed that deal citing how happy he was in San Jose and how much his family loved it there . On October 7 , 2008 , McLaren was placed on waivers by San Jose Sharks ' general manager Doug Wilson so that the team could accommodate the salaries of newly - acquired defencemen Brad Lukowich , Dan Boyle , and Rob Blake within the constraints of the NHL salary cap . He played the season for the Sharks ' AHL affiliate Worcester Sharks ; his salary did not affect the San Jose Sharks ' salary cap as he remained in Worcester . On March 4 , 2009 , he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2009 sixth - round draft pick , but that deal was later nixed as the Flyers reported that McLaren failed his physical . McLaren received an invitation to attend training camp with the New York Rangers for the 2009 - 10 season , but did not make the team after failing a physical . McLaren received another training camp invite by the Atlanta Thrashers for the 2010 - 11 NHL season on August 24 , 2010 but was released on September 22 , 2010 . 2002 Playoffs suspension . In the 2002 playoffs , McLaren injured Richard Zednik of the Montreal Canadiens with an elbow to the face . McLaren received a three - game suspension from the league .