 As a youth, he played in the 1992 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Richelieu Champlain minor ice hockey team.Pelletier was drafted out of Cornell University by the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft with the 30th overall pick.He played the 1997–98 season with the Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and also played for Team USA at the 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.