Agreed. I don't really understand the mindset of someone who would consider this sort of hedging a smell. A candidate being able to take vague requirements and clearly state different solutions for different scenarios is an excellent candidate. That would be considered a positive signal for myself and pretty much all the interviewers I've worked with.
If people in high stakes environments interpret hedging as a smell - run from that company as fast as you can.
Hedging is a natural adult reasoning process. Do you really want to work with someone who doesn't understand that?