As a youth, Ouellet played in the 1996 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Rimouski Océanic minor ice hockey team. He later played for Rimouski Océanic in the QMJHL before being drafted 124th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. He spent his first few years out of junior in the minor leagues and was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team with the &lt;a href="Wilkes-Barre/Scranton%20Penguins"&gt;Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins&lt;/a&gt; in 2004.