Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle signs two-year extension

"He hides from me in the summer. He's on some 80-foot boat that he tools around on up there," said Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle, adding, with a laugh: "I've got a 14-footer to just draw a comparison."

He is Teemu Selanne, also known as Mr. Will He Stay or Will He Go? There was no clarity emerging Wednesday on Selanne's future with the Ducks, but Carlyle was relaxed enough to joke around with reporters on a conference call, a byproduct of increased job security and the decompressing nature of being at the lake in Ontario.

Though an agreement was reached shortly after the season, the team announced Wednesday that Carlyle signed a two-year contract extension. That gives the 52-year-old coach three more years, through the 2010-11 season, taking into account the one-year extension he agreed to last year, shortly after the Ducks won the Stanley Cup.

It is believed that his deal is about $1.2 million to $1.3 million per year, which is generally in the upper salary range of NHL coaches. He just completed his third season with the Ducks, who made the playoffs each of those seasons.

Curiously enough, Carlyle is under contract longer than his immediate boss, General Manager Brian Burke, who is heading into the final year of his contract.

"I've had that before," said Burke, who added that there is nothing new in his situation. "That hasn't troubled me in the past. I just think whatever personal decision I'm trying to reach shouldn't affect the rest of our staff and a coach should not lose out on the opportunity for an extension just because the manager doesn't know what he wants to do."

Burke's future was a topic of discussion.

"We went through it a couple of different ways," Carlyle said. "I feel Brian has earned the right to make a decision which he feels is best for him and his family. I made a decision that I felt was best for my family. . . . There's a lot to like about my job."

Carlyle, who has the most wins and highest winning percentage in Ducks history, is coming off a loss in the first round of the playoffs against Dallas. Burke said the playoffs had no effect on his decision to offer the extension.

"We're too impatient with our coaches," he said. "That's a flaw across all of pro sports. I looked at [GM] Darcy Regier in Buffalo and the stability; he's had the same coach there eight or nine years, maybe even more. I look at the Nashville situation.

"If you're a player in those organizations, the message is you better fit in. Because coach has the top hat, he got the whip and the chair. The important part of this, to me, is it's a statement to our whole team that Randy's going to be in charge of this team."

lisa.dillman@latimes.com