Alexander Nikishin arrived in Raleigh on Tuesday, two days after he and the Carolina Hurricanes agreed to a one-year, $3 million contract.

Here's what Nikishin had to say in his first media availability since the start of his holdout as translated through Andrei Svechnikov:

On being back with Carolina: He said that he's very happy to be with the team, for sure.

On how hard the last couple months were: He said that it's kind of been hard. Obviously being without the team, being in America and just waiting and not knowing what's going to happen. But now, it's all good.

On how he stayed busy during the time off: He said he's got the new baby so he was playing with him and spending time with him.

On how close he feels he is to playing: He said that he's ready and he felt he might be playing sooner, but obviously he's gotta do the program: skating and practicing and hopefully he'll be playing soon.

On if he'll have to give Pyotr Kochetkov a percentage of his contract since it was his agent that closed the deal: He said they're gonna figure it out.

On what it's like to be a dad: He said it's very interesting. And not that easy.

On if there's any hard feelings carrying over from a tough contract negotiation: Not right now. Just feeling relief right now. He signed it and it's all good.

Twitter user @Uggg_uggg has routinely translated interviews with Russian players and did so as well for Nikishin's interview. Check that out here for a bit more depth on Nikishin's answers.