The Stars' thrilling playoff run ended with a thud, but not all was lost for this group of overachievers.

Several players came of age in the team's Western Conference finals run, from veterans Stephane Robidas and Mike Ribeiro to youngsters Nicklas Grossman, Loui Eriksson, Joel Lundqvist and Toby Petersen.

"You look at it, we maxed out a lot of people this year," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "If our young players continue to build [and our] young leadership group continues to max out, I think it's a bright future."

The speedy Petersen, who was called up from minor-league Iowa in early March, centered a line with Eriksson and Lundqvist that gave the Red Wings headaches in Stars' victories in Games 4 and 5.

Defensemen Grossman and Robidas also flourished.

Robidas' grit was shown when he broke his nose in the first period of Game 5 of the Stars' first-round series against the Anaheim Ducks, but was back in the game by the second period.

He was also strong on offense with 11 points in the playoffs.

"They asked me to step up my game. I was one of the veterans on the team, and they felt I was one of the guys who could step up," Robidas said. "The young guys stepped in and played real well."

Perhaps no other Stars player had a bigger impact in the playoffs than Ribeiro. Though Ribeiro led the Stars in scoring in the regular season, he was unproven in the postseason. But he never flinched, leading the Stars with 17 points and 14 assists in the team's 18 playoff games.

Tippett said that Ribeiro can now be included in the Stars' new leadership group along with Brenden Morrow, Marty Turco and Brad Richards.

"That new leadership group is something that will continue to push this team ahead," Tippett said.

Though most of the Stars' stars return next season, they have some work to do in the off-season. They must make decisions on seven key unrestricted free agents: defenseman Mattias Norstrom, centers Petersen and Stu Barnes, wingers Niklas Hagman, Brad Winchester and Antti Miettinen, and backup goalie Johan Holmqvist.

The 37-year-old Barnes, who missed the Stars' last nine playoff games with concussion-like symptoms, could decide to retire. That would put more of an emphasis on trying to re-sign Petersen.

Robidas said with the core of the team returning next season, the Stars have a bright future ahead of them.

"You have to look at positive stuff and obviously there are some positives," he said. "In the end, I'll sit back this summer and realize how close [we] were to being in the Stanley Cup Finals. You don't get that chance every year. That's why I think it's a lesson to everybody in this dressing room."