First, his father - Jon - played 12 seasons in the NHL, winning the Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in the 1998-99 season. Selected in the third round of the 1996 NHL Draft, Jon Sim also began his career in St. Louis - where the draft that year was hosted.
Second, Jon currently works for the Blues as an amateur scout. Although not assigned to scout his son, Jon was still able to give Landon valuable advice to help his NHL ambition.
"He'd preach that you have to go in every day and outwork everyone. Just be the hardest worker there and outlast guys," Landon told stlouisblues.com during last week's Prospect Camp. "That's what I did growing up - I've always been the hardest worker because I want to be a player so bad. I grew up around the game my whole life, so I've seen it firsthand."
"When you have a parent that played pro hockey, they really teach you how to be a pro," Sim added. "You really get those intangibles that not many other kids get to get firsthand. He's taught me a lot of the little things, and I think that's really going to help me take my game to the next level."
After his summer of training, Sim will suit up once again in juniors with the London Knights. He's looking to build on his production last season, which saw him score 21 points in 64 games.
"I just want to win," he said. "We have a good team in London and I want to win a championship, be a leader on that team and contribute a lot offensively."
Another connection to the Blues that inspires Sim is that he shares a junior team with Robert Thomas, who played for the Knights from 2015 to 2018 - winning a Memorial Cup in 2016. He caught a glimpse of his potential pathway ahead by watching Thomas break out for career numbers across the board last season.
"I looked up to (Thomas) all year; his progression at London was unreal," said Sim. "It shows that you just gotta show up every day knowing that if you listen, you'll be a player."
It takes a monumental effort for a sixth-round pick to work his way to the NHL, but Sim believes that he has the tools, the work ethic and the knowledge base to get there.
