Video: Watch the Burke & Nonis press conference

Brian Burke, president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, announced Saturday that David Nonis has been named senior vice president of hockey operations.

Nonis, 42, most recently was the Anaheim Ducks’ senior advisor of hockey operations and held that position since June 20, 2008. For the past four years he was senior vice president and general manager of the Vancouver Canucks. He joined the Canucks in 1998 as senior vice president, director of hockey operations after serving four seasons as the National Hockey League’s manager of hockey operations. With the NHL, Nonis helped craft the 1994 Collective Bargaining Agreement and worked with the league’s arbitration team, assisting clubs in preparing for arbitration, researching salaries and interpreting contract language.

“David Nonis brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our hockey staff,” said Burke. “We have successfully worked together in the past, and he has a deep understanding of contractual, legal and financial matters as well as scouting and roster management. He’ll be an asset to our organization in several areas.”

A native of Burnaby, British Columbia, Nonis played hockey for the University of Maine where he served as captain for two seasons, leading his team to back-to-back NCAA championship tournaments and graduating with a B.A. in 1988. He played one

season professionally in Denmark before returning to Maine in 1989 to serve on the coaching staff of his alma mater. He earned his M.B.A. from Maine in 1990 before joining the Vancouver Canucks staff that year working with corporate contracts, computer scouting and team services. Nonis became the Canucks’ chief negotiator of player contracts and assumed responsibility for Vancouver’s minor league affiliate agreement with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League. He directed all areas of the Canucks’ hockey operations department before being tapped as the ninth, and youngest-ever, general manager of the club May 6, 2004.