Burke leads way to alter instigator rule

Possible player deals naturally received most of the attention at the NHL general managers’ meetings this week in Florida, given Tuesday’s trade deadline. But a proposal to amend the instigator rule not only got attention but gained traction among the league’s executives.

Ducks General Manager Brian Burke led the charge to alter the rule, which currently calls for an automatic two-game suspension for any player who picks up three instigator fighting penalties.

The GMs recommended there be five instigator penalties before a suspension is warranted, arguing that it otherwise is impossible to protect star players, such as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, from cheap shots.

“I think it’s a real possibility,” Burke said Thursday. “But you never can predict what some people will decide. People say, ‘You want this because your team is leading the league in fighting majors,’ but I’ve been advocating this over 10 years.”

The rule change would first have to be approved by the NHL competition committee and the league’s board of governors this spring.

Commissioner Gary Bettman, aware that young stars such as Crosby and the Washington Capitals’ Alexander Ovechkin are a key to the league’s future, sounded open to the idea.

“Among other things, it means a skilled player doesn’t have to fight,” Bettman told reporters. “This wouldn’t be the first time we adjusted this. You fine-tune it, and if you need to adjust it again, you do.”

The Ducks, who have a league-high 56 fighting majors, have three instigator penalties. Rookie defenseman Shane O’Brien has two of them and said he needed to be more careful when to drop his gloves.

“You can get two pretty easily, especially if you have star players that people like to target,” Ducks enforcer George Parros said. “You don’t want to change your game. You still want to protect your guys.”

There has been some criticism that the proposal is giving the appearance that the league is encouraging more fighting. Burke said fighting has decreased for years and the criticism comes from those who don’t understand its role in the game.

“It’s not going to escalate the amount of fighting allowed,” Burke said. “But if someone runs my goaltender, I expect someone in black and gold to do something about it.”

TONIGHT

at Dallas, 5:30, FSN Prime Ticket

Site -- American Airlines Center.

Radio -- 830.

Records -- Ducks 35-16-10, Stars 35-21-3.

Record vs. Stars -- 3-1-1.

Update -- Todd Marchant did not accompany the Ducks on this trip and probably will miss the next few games because of a strained stomach muscle. “It would be safe to say that it’s going to be a minimum of another week because those things take time,” Coach Randy Carlyle said.

eric.stephens@latimes.com