Gophers Hockey: Mitch Rogge walks on as team's 15th forward

The University of Minnesota has officially found its 15th forward for 2014-15.

Gopher hockey head coach Don Lucia announced Monday that Eden Prairie, MN native Mitch Rogge will walk on and join the team. Rogge's inclusion had been reported by several outlets over the last two weeks.

The 5'10", 190 lbs sophomore forward spent the 2013-14 season with Sacred Heart where he played two games in January as a freshman for the Pioneers. Prior to Sacred Heart, Rogge spent three seasons in the NAHL with both Amarillo and Springfield. He also played four years of high school hockey at Eden Prairie alongside past and present Gophers Nick Leddy and Kyle Rau.

Although Rogge is transferring from another school, the Gophers believe he should be eligible to play right away and are awaiting final confirmation from compliance.

Having Rogge on campus as an extra body this year is an insurance policy for Minnesota that allows recruits like Jack Ramsey and Tyler Sheehy to get more playing time in juniors in order to further develop. The Gophers return 12 forwards from last year's national-runners up team. That includes five of the six players on the top-two lines.

Rogge replaces Gabe Guertler, who last month was concurrently released by Minnesota and signed with the Soo Greyhounds (OHL), in both spot and number. The 22 year-old will wear Guertler's #27.

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Nathan Wells is a college hockey columnist for SB Nation. You can also follow him on Twitter -- Follow @gopherstate