Anton Stralman greets Tampa Bay media

Swedish defenseman Anton Stralman, recently signed by the Tampa Bay Lightning to a five year contract after three seasons with the New York Rangers, has been in the Tampa Bay area since Sunday, getting acquainted with the area. He stopped by the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Tuesday morning to introduce himself.

On signing the contract:

"It feels great. It's been a couple of stressful weeks. We came in Sunday with the whole family and been enjoying our time." On factors that influenced his decision:

"I spoke to Cally (Ryan Callahan) just before I signed and I just kind of wanted to hear his thoughts, so he obviously had an impact on my decision. I already had a good idea about Tampa and just wanted to confirm everything."

On the stability that comes with the contract:

"It's huge. thats exactly what we were looking for. Going into free agency, all we really wanted was a long term contract with security and no trades. I'm really, really happy."On what he's looking forward to with the Lightning:

"This team excites me. I think this team is very promising. When you're making a choice, you want to see progress; in a positive way, obviously. I'm really excited. I think this team is close to complete. Offensive firepower, best scorer in the league. You can't ask for more than that. Defensively, they're solid. They have some big guys, guys that are strong. And Bishop is solid too. Again, im excited."On the impact free agency has had on his family:

"The kids are really suffering right now. It's been a rough couple of weeks for them, unfortunately. We've been home packing. It's been hard on them. But we're going back home to Sweden next week and we'll catch up for sure then. It's all about them then. But I told my daughter there are dolphins here and we saw "Winter" so she's looking for to that."