Barkov admitted he was disappointed Jagr wasn't re-signed by the Panthers.
"I would be lying if I say no because he helped me so much and probably I would never be in the same situation without him," Barkov said. "When he came in, I took my game to another level and for sure everybody else on the team did too. He just helped so much everybody on the team and is one of the most important guys in my career."
"I learned a lot, like playing differently in different situations and working out and living the life like a pro," Barkov said. "I was living the life like a pro [before Jagr joined the Panthers], but he took me to another level too, and to love the game a different way because nobody loves the game as much as he does. When you see him doing his own stuff, you take it from him and try to do the same thing and you see it helps you."
Barkov said Jagr's love of the game is infectious to his teammates.
"You see him and you think about how he has been in the League forever and he has almost every record in the League and he still loves the game and wants to get better," he said. "Not because of the records or anything like that. He just wants to play hockey and wants to help everybody on his team and wants to win. That's the biggest thing about him. He wanted to win in every situation when he was on the ice. And when you play with him you see that in his eyes and you try to do the same thing and it helps a lot."
