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Pavel Kubina says the contretemps over a failed trade that would have sent him to the San Jose Sharks was all a misunderstanding.

Both he and his agent, former NHL player Petr Svoboda, said the Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman never agreed to waive his no-trade clause and then reneged on Monday night.

It appears the confusion came about because a third party told Leafs interim general manager Cliff Fletcher that Svoboda thought Kubina should agree to the trade and might talk him into it. Fletcher said on Wednesday that Kubina told him only that he did not want to be traded.

This left the situation murkier than ever.

"No one ever said to me he would go," Fletcher said of Kubina. "I was just saying what was reported to me [by a third party]."

Fletcher had made a tentative deal for Kubina with the San Jose Sharks. He gave Sharks GM Doug Wilson permission to speak to Kubina's agent in an effort to convince him to drop his no-trade clause but Kubina declined.

After the NHL trade deadline passed on Tuesday, Fletcher said he had an agreement with a player for a trade and then the player changed his mind about waiving the no-trade clause on Monday night, following the Leafs' 5-0 win over the Ottawa Senators. Fletcher did not identify the player but it was later discovered to be Kubina.

"It was a misunderstanding," Kubina said Wednesday after the Leafs' game-day skate in preparation for a game against the Florida Panthers that night. "I told my agent I don't want to go anywhere.

"I'm not going to leave this team in this situation right now. We have a good group of guys here right now. It's our fault we're not in the playoffs."

However, Kubina could still be traded this summer. According to his contract, if the Leafs do not make the playoffs, Kubina's no-trade clause is suspended from the day of the entry draft in June to Aug. 15.

Svoboda said he knew nothing about a trade until he received a call at his Los Angeles office from Sharks GM Doug Wilson on Monday afternoon.

"Wilson said he had the right to talk to us," Svoboda said.

Svoboda said he was unable to reach Kubina in Ottawa until the player was on the bus heading to the game. He said Kubina told him he wanted to think about it.

"Based on that, I told Doug Wilson that [Kubina] didn't say yes and he didn't say no," Svoboda said. "Then after the game, Pavel Kubina called me and said he wants to stay in Toronto."

But according to Fletcher, he was told Kubina told his agent, Svoboda, on Monday afternoon he would agree to the trade. This could be where the confusion came in, since Kubina insisted he never told anyone he would agree to a trade.

Kubina admits he had a chat with Fletcher a day earlier, on Sunday about his plans. He would not say what was discussed. "That is private," Kubina said on Wednesday.

The Leafs did trade three players om Tuesday, forwards Chad Kilger and Wade Belak, who both went to the Florida Panthers for draft picks, and defenceman Hal Gill to the Pittsburgh Penguins for two draft picks.

To fill the gaps in their roster, the Leafs called up forwards Jeremy Williams and Kris Newbury from their Toronto Marlies farm team. They also called up forward Alex Foster from the Marlies on Wednesday but only as a precaution because winger Darcy Tucker is battling the stomach flu,

Williams and Newbury will play against the Panthers but Foster will only dress if Tucker cannot play.