After Tampa Bay Lighting General Manager Brian Lawton landed the biggest defensive prize at the 2009 Entry Draft in Sweden's Victor Hedman, he made sure to add a complementary piece the opening day of free agency on Wednesday.

He accomplished that with the signing of veteran blueliner Mattias Ohlund to a seven-year contract.

"This is a big move for our team, and the right move at the right time," Lawton said. "(Ohlund) is our anchor on defense."

There's no question the Lightning organization had been reeling on defense ever since the departure of Dan Boyle in a trade to San Jose last July. And while Hedman could eventually become that piece to the puzzle, Lawton is confident Ohlund will be able to temper those expectations at the outset.

"It means a lot to me to see a fellow Swede of his caliber join the team," Hedman told NHL.com. "He's from Sweden so it's always great to have a fellow Swede on your team. I know it's still a long way before I become a member of the team and I have to earn my spot. Obviously, Mattias is a great defenseman so he's going to bring a lot of his routine and lot of his skills to the team.

"He's been in the League for a while and can teach me a lot both on and off the ice for sure," he added.

Tampa possesses some organizational depth on defense -- Matt Lashoff, Matt Smaby and Ty Wishart come to mind -- but there's always room for a veteran presence. In addition to Ohlund, Lawton signed rugged defenseman Matt Walker, who has 354 career penalty minutes in 240 games with St. Louis and Chicago, to a four-year contract and also re-signed defender Lukas Krajicek to a one-year contract.

"When you have a checklist of things you are looking for, you look at the power play, the penalty kill, (Ohlund's) a shutdown guy, he's worked with younger players, he's a fellow countrymate of Victor Hedman, he's the whole checklist, it's not just three of the five categories," Lightning coach Rick Tocchet told The Tampa Tribune.

"It's always nice to have a whack at it through the draft and have an opportunity to select a player of (Hedman's) caliber who could potentially help in a reasonable time frame," Lawton said. "And keep in mind, reasonable isn't Day 1. Steven Stamkos really didn't contribute for us last year until the second half. Victor will get a chance to get his feet wet with us next year so we'll see how he does."

It wouldn't be too far-fetched to think Lawton has a few other moves up his sleeve during the free-agency period either.

"I think we have a talented group of guys in the back end and I know the team had injury problems last year," Ohlund said. "We must find a way to play our best and I'll try to do my part to help out with my experience. I do feel I have my best years ahead of me and I'll do my best to get better each year."

"In my opinion, it is a lot harder for a defenseman to just step into the NHL. You're just a little bit more exposed when you make a mistake. As a forward or center, making a mistake when you're 180 feet from your net doesn't necessarily hurt your team all the time, but when you're a defenseman, it definitely becomes a problem, especially as a young player." -- Brian Lawton

The Lightning allowed 3.28 goals per game last season -- 27th in the League. Lawton was determined to upgrade this area once the draft concluded last weekend. Tampa's average age along the blue in 2008-09 was 26.6 -- Marek Malik (34) was the oldest, while Lashoff (22) was the youngest.

"In my opinion, it is a lot harder for a defenseman to just step into the NHL," Lawton said. "You're just a little bit more exposed when you make a mistake. As a forward or center, making a mistake when you're 180 feet from your net doesn't necessarily hurt your team all the time, but when you're a defenseman, it definitely becomes a problem, especially as a young player."

Lawton hasn't been surprised by the lack of trades in the NHL over the last week. While he has fielded some calls, particularly during the Entry Draft, nothing was appealing.

"We had a lot of discussions about some of our roster players, but nothing of a magnanimous size, so to speak," Lawton said. "We looked at different scenarios, moving around a few picks here or there or moving a player for a pick, but it was very cautious. There's a big premium on draft picks now."

Lawton proved that point during the first round of the draft Friday, when he acquired the 29th pick from Detroit in exchange for the second pick of the second round (No. 32) and a third-round pick (No. 75). Tampa took power forward Carter Ashton of the Western Hockey League's Lethbridge Hurricanes.

"It's a little harder for me evaluating players in these later rounds because, as a GM, you don't necessarily get to see all these kids, and if you do it's usually on tape," Lawton said. "But our staff, including Jim Hammett (director of player personnel) and Darryl Plandowski (head amateur scout), were exuberant with the picks. Overall I felt we did some good, but at the same time, didn't get some things accomplished. But we'll continue to work hard at this."

Lawton also admitted that the fact the Lightning drafted two goalies in the fifth (Michael Zador) and sixth (Jaroslav Janus) rounds was no slight on expected 2009-10 starter Mike Smith. Smith played through the effects of post-concussion syndrome last December before being shut down for the season Jan. 30. Smith, who was re-signed to a two-year deal by the Lightning on Feb. 2, has a career 2.53 goals-against average and .910 save percentage in 98 games with the Dallas Stars and Lightning.

"Mike is 100-percent healthy and we're excited about that," Lawton said. "We did draft a couple of goalies, but I don't think Smitty should be too worried about that. We're expecting him to be 100-percent healthy at the start of the season. He's been working out at 100-percent full speed."

Contact Mike Morreale at mmorreale@nhl.com.