The thing is, no teams or players want other teams to think that a key player is playing with a nagging injury going into the playoffs. You can't take everything said as absolute truth this time of year.
In my opinion, he is playing pretty much the same now as he was before the "Smith illness" hit him. The "Smith illness" made it possibly a convenient cover excuse to keep him out to rest while not telling the media outright that he was injured. When he was out, his official status was quietly changed to "upper body injury", which again suggests that the Flames and Monahan are keeping their cards close.
It could also be a confidence issue as well. Injuries and confidence are not mutually exclusive.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
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