Maxim Ouellet was born June 17, 1981 in Beauport, Quebec. The first round, 22nd overall selection of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, Ouellet is a graduate of the QMJHL.
A highly touted goaltender, Ouellet spent four seasons in the QMJHL with stops in Quebec City and Rouyn Noranda before making his NHL debut in 2000-01. The Beauport, Quebec native played two games with the Flyers and two games with the teams AHL affiliate Philadelphia Phantoms before the Flyer organization decided it would be best for Ouellet to return to his junior team.
Ouellet spent the better part of the 2001-02 season with the Phantoms before having his rights traded to the Washington Capitals towards the end of the season. Upon his arrival in Washington, the emergence of Sebastien Charpentier with the team's AHL affiliate in Portland earned him the back-up role to front man Olaf Kolzig for the 2002-03 season, which ment that Ouellet would carry the bulk of the work load in Portland. In his first full season in the AHL, Ouellet saw action in 48 games and finished the year with 22 wins and a 2.40 GAA.
Over the course of the next two seasons, Ouellet continued to hone his skills in the AHL while seeing limited action with Washington and was subsequently dealt to the Vancouver Canucks in the early stages of the 2005-06 season.
