Helene St. James | Detroit Free Press

Helene St. James, DFP

Adam Cairns, TNS

The Detroit Red Wings made a few lineup changes to help boost their farm team.

Defenseman Joe Hicketts, forward Evgeny Svechnikov and goaltender Tom McCollum were assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday.

Svechnikov spent 14 games with the Wings, producing two goals among four points while playing in the nine-minute range. Hicketts played four games this stint, after making his debut in January. McCollum was only called up Tuesday on an emergency basis after Jared Coreau came down with the flu.

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The Wings have two games left on the slate: Thursday, hosting Montreal and Saturday’s finale against the New York Islanders. Then comes a long offseason.

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Photos: Blue Jackets 5, Red Wings 4 (OT)

The Griffins, on the other hand, are in contention to defend their Calder Cup championship. They have points in seven straight games (6-0-0-1) and are tied with Manitoba for second in the Central Division. The Griffins’ magic number to clinch a franchise-record sixth consecutive playoff berth is three.

Grand Rapids continues its five-game road trip this week when it visits the Pacific Division-leading Tucson Roadrunners for games Friday and Saturday. Coreau will join the Griffins once the Wings’ season ends.

There’s debate within the organization whether Tyler Bertuzzi will do so, too. He’s eligible, but the downside to him joining their playoff push is he could be playing into June — and that would shorten his offseason as far as workouts and gaining strength.

“In his case, if he were to not go down, the positive would be he can start his training early,” Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “The positive if he goes down is to just continue to work towards becoming an elite player, not just a real good complementary player. But the negative side is if it’s a real long run, it cuts into his training.”

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Bertuzzi was the playoff MVP with the Griffins last season. He has made himself a home in Detroit after being called up at Christmas, working his way onto the top line with Henrik Zetterberg and Gustav Nyquist. Bertuzzi scored twice in Tuesday's 5-4 overtime loss at Columbus to reach six goals among 23 points in 46 games.

A decision on Bertuzzi is expected to be made by the weekend.

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.