NEW YORK, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- The New York Rangers announced Thursday night that goaltender Mike Richter will miss the rest of the season and promptly replaced him by trading for Nashville's Mike Dunham.
The Rangers sent left wing Rem Murray and defensemen Tomas Kloucek and Marek Zidlicky to the Predators in exchange for Dunham.
Mired in a season-high four-game losing streak, the ailing Rangers also acquired left wing Josh Green from the Edmonton Oilers for a conditional draft pick in 2003.
The Rangers may also be without superstar right wing Pavel Bure, one of the most prolific scorers in NHL history, for the rest of the season with a knee injury. The team still is awaiting results of tests.
In Wednesday night's 4-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, New York was without Richter, Bure, defenseman Brian Leetch, captain Mark Messier and right wing Matthew Barnaby. Defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre then broke a finger.
Richter, 36, has not played since suffering a concussion on a knee to the head against Edmonton on Nov. 5. He recently underwent a series of tests because of his slow recovery.
A Stanley Cup champion, Richter has been ravaged by injuries the past few seasons, tearing both ACLs and suffering a fractured skull on a slap shot.
Dan Blackburn, 19, has played well at times in Richter's absence this season but finally was pulled after the first period Wednesday and figures to split time, at best, with Dunham.
Dunham, a teammate of Richter's on the United States Olympic team, was sharing time with Tomas Vokoun in Nashville, going 2-9-2 with a 3.15 goals-against average in 15 games.
A native of upstate New York, the 30-year-old Dunham is 94-116-28 during a seven-year NHL career that began with the New Jersey Devils in 1996-97. He was selected by Nashville in the 1998 expansion draft.
The Predators got rid of Dunham to pave the way for Vokoun, establishing him as their No. 1 goalie.
"We feel that Tomas has gotten better every year and is very popular with his teammates," general manager David Poile said. "His stats have been excellent this year and we are going to give him the ball, or in this instance the puck, to become our No. 1 goaltender."
Murray, 30, came to New York from Edmonton at last season's trade deadline. He had six goals and six assists in 32 games this year.
Kloucek, 22, was being groomed as a rugged defenseman before he tore an ACL two seasons ago. He played 52 games with the Rangers in 2001-02 but has been in the American Hockey League all of this season.
"He is a huge defenseman we think is a really good prospect," Poile said. "We think some time in the near future, he's going to be a big part of our defensive corps."
Zidlicky, 25, is a former Rangers draft pick from Finland who has been playing in the Czech Republic.
"The Rangers have tried to get him to come over for the last couple of years and for whatever reason, he's been reluctant to come over," Poile said. "Hopefully, his interest in playing for Nashville is greater than his interest has been for the Rangers."
Green had two assists in 20 games for the Oilers this season. He was acquired from the New York Islanders in June 2000 but missed the entire 2000-01 season after having surgery on both shoulders.
In 157 NHL games, Green has 23 goals and 24 assists. Green, who began his career with the Los Angeles Kings, turns 25 on Monday.
