as i hockey player, i can tell u first hand that its frustrating for a player to get swapped in and out of lines.
chemistry is not just about if one person’s head is in it. A lot of times you see some seriously nice passes going on and it appears that the players dont even look when they pass. Well thats because they play with the same players over and over. They know where the guy is going to be and they know their assignments. Some lines have better chemistry then others. If you cant be sure that you can connect on a risky pass, and you end up holding the puck for too long and taking a hit, you turn over the puck. In the beginning of the season the sabres were playing very explosive hockey. They made split second passes that always went on the stick. You dont see that kinda stuff happening as much anymore and its causing a lot of turnovers and dead breakouts.