Tim Leiweke, President and Chief Executive Officer of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, announced Thursday that David Nonis has signed a five-year contract extension in his role as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Ownership and management felt it was critical to extend David now for a lengthy period of time and to reward him for the progression of the Leafs and Marlies,” said Leiweke. “This extension will allow David the time to build his kind of team to produce steady results, year after year. Everyone is excited about his ability and grasp of the NHL landscape and today’s new contract agreement will offer the Leafs consistency and a long-term vision.”

“I’m very grateful to Tim Leiweke and our ownership group for this contract extension,” said Nonis. “Together with our hockey operations staff, we’ll continue to patiently put the building blocks in place which will lead us to future success.”

Nonis, 47, became the 15th general manager in Toronto franchise history when he was named to the post on January 9, 2013. The Leafs advanced to the NHL Playoffs for the first time since 2004 by securing the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference by virtue of their 57 points earned in the 48-game regular season. He originally joined the Leafs in the role of senior vice president of hockey operations on December 6, 2008.

The Burnaby, British Columbia native began his hockey management career in 1990 with the Vancouver Canucks following a standout hockey career at the University of Maine that saw him captain the team to back-to-back NCAA championship tournaments. After his first stint with the Canucks, he joined the National Hockey League as the League’s manager of hockey operations in 1994. He returned to Vancouver in 1998 as the team’s senior vice president and director of hockey operations. On May 6, 2004 he was named the youngest general manager in the history of the Canucks.

While general manager of the Canucks, Nonis’ teams compiled a record of 130 wins, 91 losses, and 25 ties. He also served as the general manager of Canada’s National Men’s Team for the 2011 IIHF World Championship in Slovakia.