2026 T25U25: Landon Sim is #21

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When I was watching the Marlies final playoff game this spring, I said, "god help me, I really like Landon Sim." It helps that he'd opened the scoring for the Marlies, not a common occurrence. You see, he's not a player people take seriously. He hasn't got sick hands or amazing deception, he doesn't toe drag or dangle, although he can zip around a bit. He is a fun disrupter, agitator and all around irritant to the other team.

The Player

Sim played for the London Knights for four years, finishing with an A on his jersey, 58 playoff games and a Memorial Cup. He played every season with Easton Cowan. Sim's a year younger, about the same size, and there is some similarity in the way they approach the game, but that could be the influence of Dale Hunter as much as natural inclination.

Sim's father, Jon, was an NHL player originally from Nova Scotia, and his scouting report (from Elite Prospects 15 years ago) could be the tag line for this article:

A smallish winger who likes to play a physical game. Skates well and enjoys going to the net. Good along the boards despite his stature.

Jon Sim finished his NHL career with 469 GP, 139 P and 314 PIM. The challenge for Landon is that the NHL of today is a very different world to his father's era, one which drifted to a close in the years following the 2004 lockout and the changes to the game. Jon used to be in the stands for a lot of London Knights games, though, and the camera would always pan to him when Landon got in a fight or a big scrum along the boards.

Landon is not his father, however; he's just above average height for a man like his dad, but he's got a more complex game, more befitting the times. From the Elite Prospects draft guide in 2022:

With the puck, Sim shows skill and creativity. He sets moves and passes up on his backhand, enabling access to lanes that most prospects can’t access. As he approaches defenders, he puts the puck inside his hip pocket and waits for the reach before deking. The details appear in his passing where he uses eye deception and his shooting, as he will pull the puck around a defender’s stick. 

He was also third on the London Knights in PIM the season prior to that draft as a rookie on the team. And it's telling that this facet of his game doesn't get a mention. That short prospect sketch makes him sound like the classic zippy little winger of the Dubas era. All those fast and deceptive offence-only players who melted like frost as the sun rises when they got near the boards. Sim, to me, looks a bit like Pontus Holmberg, only with more of an aggressive edge and less of a self-sacrificing willingness to just barely survive board battles with the puck in his possession. People who judge by size or carefully worded sketches will get the very wrong idea.

In 2010 or so, when Jon Sim was playing some seasons in Europe and Landon was playing ministicks in the basement, the discourse around hockey calcified into this dichotomy of the "skill guy" and the "physical player". Sides were taken, extremes of thinking became slogans and thought ceased. As the years went on, if you believed in Corsi (as if verifiable mathematical concepts are questions of faith) then you were supposed to believe that physical play was bad, speed was inherently good, and small players were automatically better.

You know all this, you were there, you took sides, you watched the Leafs go a little too hard on size on defence, speed in forwards, and then they corrected too much. People changed their minds, refined their opinions, and yet, these slogans persist. There is a lot of nostalgia for the simple days of one or the other. Look at that draft report on Sim and what it leaves out. Look at the people today who think all you need to play the fourth-line in the NHL is a big body.

We've ended up in a place where it's getting more likely that size fetishists are rare, that the tut tutting over a hockey player (imagine!) being a bit rough with his opponents gets a sarcastic response, and there is a glimmer of light on the horizon that "is the player good" is coming before "what do they weigh"?

Is Sim any good?

He joined the Marlies last year on an AHL contract, and he didn't score much. He played a few games in the ECHL where that came easier. But he was back in the AHL quickly and he got a lot of playoff time where he took a lot of penalties and managed three points in 12 games. Now, to set up your understanding of him, he was a point-per-game player in his final year on the Knights. He got there with 30 goals. He has a genuinely valuable offensive game. In junior.

This year, the Leafs signed Sim to an ELC. His draft stature got him taken by St. Louis in 2022, but they let his rights expire. The Leafs tried him out on an AHL deal before they committed to that ELC. This signing came in between the exit of Brad Treliving and the hiring of John Chayka.

Is he good is a simple question, he wouldn't even be on the Marlies at all if he didn't have some skill. Good at what, though?

He didn't play at the recent development camp, so his Marlies season is what there is to judge him from. I think I've got a higher opinion of his "agitator who can score" game than some others in that I think his pro hockey debut last year is unlikely to be his peak performance. He was also playing a role on the Marlies, one he was raised to understand and to see as a path to the NHL. He was usually on a line with Michael Pezzetta and Mark Johnstone, two hard cases who play like they think the point of the game is the physical aggression. Sim can do that, but he doesn't just do that, and I think it's possible he's got some very small room to fill out his approach to the game with something more valuable.

He is 22, which is when the big leaps in ability are usually in the past, and the growth comes from figuring out how to fit yourself into a role that adds value to a team. It's a time of learning what not to do rather than picking up new skills. To be clear, I don't expect an NHL career as his most likely outcome, but I ranked him at all because unlike many players perceived to be more highly skilled, I think it's more likely he can add value at higher levels in more ways than one.

When this T25 is all over, and we're talking about NHLers again, I'm going to bring you some thoughts on a new member of the team who has made a career out of a lot of the things Sim does as value-adds. He may have a better basic game of hockey, but it's tough to be sure about that when evaluating someone at Sim's career stage. Think back on this discussion then, and wonder, like I do now, if Sim can't get to the same level someday if all goes well.

The Votes

When I voted, he was the fourth number I entered on the form after 1, 2 and 3. I wanted him on my ranking, and I put him at 25 and never moved him. Sometimes, you just want a fun player to make the list.

Sim's average ranking puts him in a clear tier with the players who were ranked, but only just, all with similar numbers of votes and vote spreads. There's a big jump coming in a few days, and I want you to remember Sim when we get to that day. (Sorry for asking you to remember so much!)

The Opinions

Shinson93:  This is a guy that will just go through a wall for his teammates.  Not a particularly high ceiling, but a player that coaches, fans, and teammates will all love.  That is mostly what boosted my ranking of him.  

Brigstew: A top notch rat with some game to him. It works in the AHL, he could maybe get a bit better still but I’m not expecting anything dramatic. I doubt he’ll make the NHL but I ranked him 24th because he’s at least fun and entertaining and plays an assigned role very well.

Svalbard38: I almost didn’t rank Sim, he was a last minute addition to my list. I’ll confess that I let his reputation for physical play cloud my judgement of him when I was doing my initial rankings, as well as the fact that he was undrafted and played in the ECHL for part of last season. Typically when the first thing people say about a guy is that he plays a good physical game, it’s not a great sign about the rest of his game, but there’s more to Sim than that. It’s easy to forget that he was a legitimate offensive tool for London, he led a team full of highly touted prospects in regular season goals and he was 3rd for the Knights in playoff goals. You don’t do that without a bit of skill to your name. Had a couple of goals at key moments for the Marlies too. This year I want to see Sim play a whole season in the AHL and show that his offensive production didn’t get left behind in junior.

Sclodiggity: Sim is the highest player on this list that I didn’t rank. He seems like a tweener to me but at the ECHL/AHL level. A full season with the Marlies would be great but he’d still be a low-minute guy and turning 23 this year (which isn’t old, but many age-curves show 24 as the peak year for forwards). Low chance of making the Leafs and unlikely to be an impact player if he does.

Zone Entry:
Landon Sim
Landon Sim
He’s got vigour and he’s got vim
Can he do
More than slug?
Or is he just a Marlie plug?
LET’S SEE
Who is this Landon Sim

Species:
They way he joined the Marlies team and fit right into it was impressive. His impact in the playoffs was also impressive. I want to see a repeat of that in this coming season, and then I will be more confident in a higher ranking, but I will never forget this goal which started the Marlies comeback win in the final game for the Calder Cup.

That's the question, who is Landon Sim going to be?

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