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The Florida Everblades added a third player to their roster on Wednesday, re-signing '07-08 forward Mike McLean.

McLean joins defenseman Kyle Peto and fellow '07-08 forward Jarret Lukin on the Blades '08-09 roster, under new head coach Malcolm Cameron. McLean said former coach Gerry Fleming asked him last April if he'd like to come back to Florida, and at that point he made his decision.

"I said for sure," McLean said on Wednesday from his home in Ontario. "My agent thought it'd be good to go back to a place like Florida and have a good year and try and move up ... I had no problems in Florida, and I knew right away I wanted to stay."

The 22-year-old joined the Blades on Nov. 29 last season after a trade with the Elmira Jackals, where McLean had two assists in six games. He went on to score nine goals and 13 assists in 54 games for the Blades.

He played in two playoff games after being scratched for the Blades' first playoff game, when the Florida Panthers (one of the Blades' NHL affiliates) sent down five prospects from their AHL team in Rochester who all needed playing time.

"That was a tough situation for (Fleming) with having all those guys from Rochester coming back," McLean said. "He talked to me about it, and obviously I was a little frustrated ... but not coming back didn't even cross my mind at that point."

McLean, 6-foot and 180 pounds, was compared to Lukin by Blades general manager Craig Brush. Both are relatively young, gritty players whose contributions didn't always show up in the statistics last season.

"If we go with anything we did last year, me and Lukin (will play on the same line a lot)," McLean said. "We played on the same line for three months last year ... he's awesome to play with. We both just like to work hard and aren't afraid to go in the corners and be penalty killers."

"Bringing Mike back to our club was high on our list this offseason." Brush said in the team press release. "Mike is a hard-working player who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty. Just like (Lukin), other players feed off his intensity, and that is something we want on this team."

Prior to turning pro, McLean spent four years in the Ontario (junior) Hockey League and a year in the Ontario Provincial (junior) Hockey League. He scored 29 goals and added 29 assists in 67 games in '06-07.

He said he's already talked to Cameron a few times this summer.

"I think it'll be a really exciting year -- (Cameron) has a winning past, and that's exciting ... knowing that we have a coach that'll put together a championship-caliber team," McLean said.