Here’s what Kings center Anze Kopitar said Thursday when he heard Wayne Gretzky said Wednesday that he was the third-best player in the world behind Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks:

“I’ll take any compliment from that guy. Even if he said I was the fifth in the rankings, I would have taken it. It’s obviously very nice to hear things about that. I’ve heard it for the first time right now. I didn’t really pay attention to anything after last night. It’s nice to hear it. Can’t really get caught up in that stuff.”