Where do I find the answer to the question By how much from the AAV can a player's seasonal salary vary?

I vaguely remember reading that the maximum deviation from the AAV is 20%, i.e. if the cap hit is $7.5 million, then the most one season's compensation can be is $9 million and the least is $6 million, but I have no idea whether that's true.

I looked under the CBA tab but didn't find the answer.

I don't know if there is such a provision.

Matthews for example has a 5 year deal with high salary years of $15.9 million and this year is at $7.95 million. His AAV is $11.64 million so that is a swing from 32% below the AAV to 27% above.

It might be a restriction on the last couple of years of a contract, but I know that I've seen something that limits the deviation. And remember that Matthews' current deal was signed before the latest amendments to the CBA.

Isnt the CBA coming due in 2023 and a new one needs to be negotiated so I would just wait for the next one as were probs gonna see changes

True, but my thoughts were stimulated by all of the adverse comments about the length of Nazem Kadri's deal, and I'm wondering why Calgary didn't render that moot by giving him, say, 9-8-8-8-7-5-4, thereby rendering a buyout in the 6th and 7th years (at least) very cheap so no one would care if he couldn't take the ice after Year 5. Aside from that, front-loaded contracts are better for the player due to the present value of money and better for the team due to the added appeal of reduced actual cost in a potential trade down the line.

No idea but I feel there will be changes when it comes to contract structure, a proper cap structure for the foreseeable future, among other changes.