Metcalfe was born in Toronto, Ontario. He began his junior career playing with the Kingston Canadians of the Ontario Hockey League from 1983 to 1986, playing in 192 games, scoring 213 points, and added 3 goals and 6 assists in 10 playoff games, before being traded to the Windsor Spitfires for the 1986–87 season, for whom he played 57 games, with 25 goals and 57 assists, plus 5 goals and 5 assists in 13 playoff games. He also played for Team Canada at the 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, scoring 7 points in six games. Metcalfe was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers with their first pick, 20th overall in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. Metcalfe began the 1987–88 season with the Nova Scotia Oilers of the American Hockey League, where he had 28 points in 43 games, and played 2 games with Edmonton, scoring no points, before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres, along with the Oilers' ninth-round draft pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, for Steve Dykstra and the Sabres' seventh-round pick in the 1989 NHL Draft, on February 11, 1988. Metcalfe spent the majority of his time in the Sabres system with the Rochester Americans of the AHL, scoring 15 points in 22 games, and he played a single game with the Sabres, picking up his first NHL point, an assist. He chipped in with 4 points in 7 playoff games with Rochester. Metcalfe spent most of the 1988–89 season with Rochester, picking up 51 points in 60 games, along with 241 penalty minutes, and he played 9 games in Buffalo, earning 2 points. He once again split his playing time between Rochester and Buffalo in 1989–90, scoring 29 points in 43 games in Rochester, and no points in 7 games with the Sabres. Metcalfe recorded an assist in 2 playoff games with Rochester. He spent the entire 1990–91 season with the Americans, scoring 39 points in 69 games, and had 5 points in 14 post-season games. In 1991–92, Metcalfe played for EHC Dynamo Berlin in Germany, picking up 35 points in 25 games. He played the 1992–93 season with ES Weißwasser, also in Germany, scoring 7 points in 8 games, before moving to Eisbären Berlin for the rest of the season, with 25 points in 27 games. Metcalfe would get 4 points in 4 playoff games. He returned to North America in 1993–94 and played for the Knoxville Cherokees of the ECHL, scoring 81 points in 56 games, and added an assist in 3 playoff games. He also spent 16 games with the Rochester Americans, earning 12 points, and 1 goal in 4 playoff games. Metcalfe continued playing for the Americans from 1994 to 1998, recording 55 points in 63 games in 1994–95, and 2 points in 5 playoff games, then had a 45-point season in 71 games in 1995–96, and then had his best playoff performance with 14 points in 19 games. His best season was in 1996–97, registering 70 points in 80 games, and he added 4 points in 10 playoff games. Metcalfe's production slipped in 1997–98 to 33 points in 75 games, and he went pointless in 4 playoff games. Metcalfe returned to Germany in 1998–99, playing for the Hannover Scorpions of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, earning 32 points in 50 games. He returned to the Scorpions for the 1999–2000 season, picking up 28 points in 61 games. In 2000–01, Metcalfe joined the Sheffield Steelers of the Ice Hockey Superleague in Great Britain, getting 23 points in 49 games, along with 9 points in 11 playoff games. He returned to North America once again in 2001–02, but only played in 3 games with the Adirondack IceHawks of the United Hockey League, scoring no points, and retired from hockey.
