NHL’s Bettman orders feuding Ducks and Oilers GMs to cool it

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is apparently going to have the last word on the Brian Burke-Kevin Lowe verbal feud.

Bettman effectively told Burke, the Ducks’ general manager, and Lowe, the Edmonton Oilers’ GM, to cool it, after a conference call between the three this morning.

“The NHL, in response to Kevin Lowe’s comments over the weekend, has ordered both Burke and Lowe to both cease and desist,” the Ducks said in a statement.

No fines or penalties were assessed.

Lowe made news Friday when he ripped Burke on an Edmonton radio station, calling the Anaheim executive a “moron” and a “media junkie.” He also made disparaging comments about the Southern California hockey market.

The tirade was in response to Burke’s latest criticism of Lowe last week after the Ducks re-signed winger Corey Perry to a five-year, $26.63-million contract. Burke blamed Lowe directly for the sharp rise in salaries for talented young players, citing the offer sheets Lowe tendered to Thomas Vanek and Dustin Penner last summer.

Buffalo matched the Oilers’ seven-year, $50-million offer for Vanek, but the Ducks let Penner walk after declining to match their five-year, $21.25-million sheet. At the time, Burke said Lowe’s maneuvers were “an act of desperation by a general manager who is fighting to keep his job.”

The Ducks made a much quieter move today, signing goaltender David LeNeveu to a two-way contract. Most recently in the New York Rangers organization, LeNeveu, 25, was a second-round pick of Phoenix in 2002.

 eric.stephens@latimes.com